Shaggy vs the Paw Patrol
by TheMitzez
Summary: Ever since the Paw Patrol had been formed they managed to overcome any sort of problem or threat that faced them. They believed that for as long as they were a team nothing would be able to stop them. However, when a man from an unknown origin arrives at Adventure Bay, they face the biggest threat they have ever seen. Featuring many unexpected events and surprise characters.
1. The Arrival of Shaggy

The sun began to rise appearing as if it was emerging from the sea. It sent rays of light across the earth and began to warm the cool air. There was a slight, refreshing summer breeze flowing through the air. Birds began to sing their heavenly tunes that welcomed the residents to a new day. For the longest time Adventure Bay had been a peaceful place. Of course the occasional rescue or adventure that the Paw Patrol would go on, but overall there was never a problem that had caused the team any sort of trouble. It seemed as if they were unstoppable and could handle any issue that occurred.

There was a lookout that stood on top of a hill overlooking Adventure Bay. It was separated from the rest of the town by a big red bridge that stretched over the water. It lead to a pink pet parlor and several more building to the left. To the right of the parlor was an island in the distance with a lighthouse in the middle and a dock down by the water. The road split and led down to the bridge before joining back together. It continued past the parlor and down to the beach which connected to the sea. The water stretched from the beach, under the bridge and out into the ocean.

A boy with dark hair was just awaking from his slumber inside of the lookout. He stretched his arms up into the air and let out a yawn. He was the leader of the Paw Patrol and guided each pup on their missions. He cared for them every single day and helped through the darkest of times. At ten years old he managed to do more than any of the adults in the city ever could and was far more intelligent. The boy stepped out of his bed and walked over to his cabinet to change out of his pajamas. He grabbed a white long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans that he wore every single day. Then he grabbed a vest that was red up to his arms with blue stripes around the arms and the neck. There was a stripe of yellow bordering the red and white part of the vest. Once he was fully dressed he stretched once more and went to grab breakfast.

At the same time a German shepherd was also beginning to awake, who wore a black collar with a blue pup tag that had a yellow star in the middle. He was the first up every single time and also happened to be the first member of the Paw Patrol. He was the police dog who handled things such as traffic and sometimes also tracks down missing people, pups and other critters. Despite being the police dog he never actually seems to arrest people, even if they deserve it. The pup stepped out of his pup-house and took a deep breath, his nostrils instantly filled with the scent of the salty sea. He closed his eyes and took everything in, the smell, the songs sung by the birds, all of it was what he hoped to wake up to every single day.

A voice called out beside him, causing him to jump and turn around defensively, "Morning Chase!" It yelled in an ecstatic tone. Next to him there was a small cockapoo who bared a massive smile on her face. She wore a pink collar with a pink pup tag that had a propeller symbol on the front.

Oh, good morning Skye." Chase replied trying to act unsurprised.

"Did I scare you there?" Skye asked sarcastically while giving him a smug look. She was the one who handled air rescues and was always filled with energy.

"No." He replied firmly. He was always trying to act fearless in front of her.

Another pup-house opened up, it was an orange hovercraft with the front folded up revealing a small chamber inside of it. There was a closed gray hatch on the top covering up the controls and a small seat. From it stepped a small chocolate Labrador with amber eyes who wore a blue-collar around his neck with an orange pup tag. On it, there was a small white symbol of an anchor. He was the water pup and said 'dude' a lot. Since he was only needed for water missions he was barely ever called on them.

Alongside the lab, there was another pup that was also stepping out of his pup-house. A gray mongrel with white paws, who had a floppy right ear and his left ear was slightly chipped. There were also white fur tufts on the sides of his face. His left eye was surrounded by a darker gray patch of fur. He stepped out of a green pup-house wearing an orange collar that had a green pup tag with a recycling symbol. He was a highly intelligent pup who could make almost anything with any sort of materials.

The first thing that he noticed of when he walked into the cool air was the lab, "Morning Zuma." He said while stretching his back into the air.

"Hey Wocky." Zuma replied also stretching his back into the air. "Weady for another day?" He asked scratching his neck.

"I guess." Rocky answered. He walked up to the cliff side and stared off into the distance and let out a sigh.

"You alright?" Zuma asked noticing Rocky's somber tone and face. He walked up to him and sat down next to him.

"I'm fine, it's just that everything has been so uneventful lately, you know? I just wish that something interesting could happen. I mean, I don't want something bad or something that is a big problem, just something interesting." Before Zuma had the chance to reply Skye and Chase approached them from behind.

"How are you two doing?" Skye asked perkily.

Rocky jumped and stumbled over while Zuma just promptly turned around to face them, "Oh we are fine." Rocky quickly said trying to act normal.

"What's up with you?" Chase asked tilting his head at how the gray pup was acting.

"Nothing, just did not expect you to be here." He quickly replied getting back on his feet.

Two more pups approached the four. One of them was a dalmatian who wore a yellow collar with a red pup tag that had a fire symbol on it. The other was an english bulldog with a black collar and a yellow pup tag with an image of a wrench on it.

"I see everyone is up already." The dally said looking as if he was still half asleep.

"You don't look very awake Marshall." Chase said noticing how tired Marshall was.

"When is he ever awake?" The bulldog joked sarcastically.

"To be fair Rubble he does act like he is asleep." Chase said smugly.

"Hey are you making fun of me being clumsy?" Marshall asked defensively. He always had been very clumsy. Considering that he was the fire pup and the medical pup it was a very big flaw to have. However, considering how there never is any fires, he really is only ever needed to reach high places with his ladder.

"Well I never said I was making fun of it."

Just then the door to the lookout opened up. Out stepped the boy who took a deep breath, taking in the outdoors. He looked at the pups who were walking towards him, "How are you pups doing?" He asked excited to see them.

"We're doing great Ryder!" Skye shouted running up to him. He bent down and gently petted her on the head.

"You pups must be hungry?" He asked standing back up and looking at each of the pups individually with a joyful smile.

"I know I am." Rubble said with his stomach growling at the thought of food.

"While come on inside and we can all eat." They all said no more and followed Ryder inside the lookout. Inside there was a smaller circular room which happened to be an elevator. The main room was fairly large with a big television on the wall. There were colored pillows each corresponding to the pups. There were also bowls filled to the brim with food, which were also colored to correspond to each of the pups.

All of them quickly ran up to their bowls and began to eat. Ryder stood there for a moment before turning back towards the door. He walked outside once more, looking around at the place he worked so hard to keep a safe place. There were people already walking around outside. Some were at the beach, sitting in the sand and relaxing while others were already in the water and taking advantage of the refreshing water.

There was something ominous hanging in the air, Ryder didn't notice it when he had first came outside. Not understanding why, he turned his attention into the sky. It was completely devoid of clouds. All there was the sun shining brighter than ever. The ominous feeling was still there, even though there was nothing to take notice of on this day. Ryder thought it was just gonna be another normal day.

Before he could do anything else he got a call on his pup-pad. It was from Cap'n Turbot. Ryder quickly answered it hearing the familiar voice, "Ryder are you there? I got a particularly peculiar problem here."

"What?" Ryder quickly asked turning to face the lighthouse noticing that the flounder was missing.

"I was out on the sea when suddenly the flounder just stopped! Nothing will work."

"Don't worry, no job is to big, no pup is to small!" Ryder was about to call of the pups to the lookout, before realizing that they all were already there. He turned back to the door but it didn't open. The lights in the lookout were also out. "A power outage?" Ryder asked himself, "That wouldn't do anything to the flounder though." He knocked on the glass getting the pups attention, who were all focused on the fact that the lights had just gone out.

"Ryder?" The pups asked from inside running up to the door.

"Pups, help me get this door open."

Ryder grabbed onto the side of one of the doors pulling it with all of his strength, the pups also helped pull the doors open. Eventually they got it and the door finally opened.

"Ryder what is going on?" Rubble asked looking and sounding spooked.

"I'm not sure." Ryder said gazing around trying to figure something out. He pulled up his pup-pad once more trying to contact Cap'n Turbot again. It wouldn't turn on however. "Something is going on." They all ran back outside and looked around. It seemed that everyone noticed how absolutely no electronics were working.

The air was even more ominous now, it was completely silent and devoid of anything. For just a second, the world was silent. Everyone had stopped at the same time to figure out what was happening.

"Ryd-" There was a loud bang that came from the sky. It happened somewhere above the ocean. All of the pups huddled together in fear while Ryder jumped at the sudden noise. He quickly looked up at the sky. Something was there. A small light was growing larger every so slightly. It appeared as if it was a meteor, though it seemed to be very small. Upon realizing this Ryder quickly waved the pups back into the lookout. They all ran in without question.

The light got bigger and bigger before the actual size could be made out. It was far smaller than what anyone had thought. In fact it appeared to be the size of a man. The shape itself to also supported this. The people who were at the beach quickly ran off in a panic, the figure was heading straight towards the beach. It crashed into with such force that it sent sand flying everywhere. It left a small crater where the figure now lied. When the dust had settled, people began to crowd around it.

The pups stepped out of the lookout again, keeping their heads lows and moving slowly. "What happened Ryder?" Chase asked trying to sound calm and collected.

"We need to get down to the beach. Now." Ryder said running down to the bridge. All of the pups followed confused. They noticed the crater on the beach and picked up the pace. When they arrived at the beach, the crater was already surrounded by people. "Everyone please step away!" Ryder yelled trying to shout over the loud mumble of everyone. Everyone did just that. Ryder and the pups walked up towards the hole.

The suspicion was correct, inside the crater was a man. He wore a green V-neck t-shirt, brown bell-bottom pants and black shoes. He had a very long neck with whisker on his chin. The man was very tall and slim and was unconscious not showing any signs of life.

"What?" Was all Ryder could think to say in the moment. He hopped down into the crater and approached the man. There was a slight twitch from one of the man's fingers. A tiny spark of light emitted from it. The pups also hopped in the crater, curious to see who the man was. "Pups," Ryder began to say, "Stay outside this might be dangerous."

"But, it is just a man Ryder." Chase said.

"A man who seemingly came from outer space." Ryder continued to inspect the man.

"Cool, dude." Zuma said before looking at Rocky, "Looks like you got your wish."

"I never thought this would be something that I would see in my life." Rocky said dazed by what was happening.

All of the pups continued to mumble to each other. Both Ryder and Chase were the only to who found the situation more alarming than intriguing. Ryder laid his fingers on the man's chest to see if there was a heartbeat. The second his finger touched the green shirt the man opened his eyes and stood up, causing everyone to take a few steps back. The man paused and looked around at his surroundings.

"Hello spaceman." Said Rubble giving the man a smile. The man didn't smile back, instead he continued to peer around at the Paw Patrol and all of the other residents staring at him.

"Um, excuse me sir. Are you alright?" Ryder asked trying to figure out where the man came from and who he was.

"Yes." The man replied calmly.

"Who are you? Better yet, where did you come from?" Ryder asked still trying to get all of the information he wanted.

"What is this place?" The man asked ignoring Ryder's question. He was still gazing into the shocked faces of everyone around him. There was no emotion on his face, not even confusion despite him not knowing where he was. It was almost as if he was actually dead.

"Well, this is Adventure Bay." Ryder replied not taking his attention of the spaceman for anything. "So, who-"

"Adventure Bay?" The man said cutting off Ryder. "Strange name for a place." He joked, "As for who I am, you'll know soon enough."

"W-what?" Ryder asked nervous and slightly afraid.

The man took notice of the six pups all standing together. Ryder moved in front of them defensively. "Sir, I really need you to tell us who you are." Ryder said trying to sound tough, but what came out showed he obviously was worried. "Everything is gonna be alright."

"It is." The man stated with a smile forming on his face, "Anyway I need to get a better look." The man quickly walked towards the edge of the crater and climbed out.

"Slow down there." Ryder said now acting aggressive. All of the pups hopped out and formed around the man ready to pounce on him. The man stopped in his tracks and sighed.

"What are you planning on doing?" Chase asked.

"Is it illegal to look around a new home?" The man asked menacingly.

"Home?" Rocky asked catching onto his words.

"Yes. This is my home now. You all will listen to me."

Chase walked towards the man confidently, Ryder signaled for him to stop, but was ignored, "I don't think that is gonna happen. Now how about you tell us-" The man grabbed Chase by the collar and lifted him up. Ryder ran towards him but the let out a beam of light sending Ryder flying back.

"Ryder!" All of the pups shouted. Skye and Rubble ran towards him to help him up.

"Let Chase go." Zuma and Rocky demanded gritting their teeth.

"Shaggy." The man said looking into the fearful eyes of Chase who was struggling to escape. The man did not seem to have any trouble holding him there, "There. Now let me explore-"

He was cut off by two sharp bites to the leg by Zuma and Rocky. He dropped Chase who instantly pounced on Shaggy. He kicked his leg into the air sending Rocky and Zuma crashing into the crater once more. Ryder, Skye and Rubble all ran to assist Chase in detaining him. With a single twitch of his finger all of them were sent back into the sand. All of the people screamed and began to run back towards their homes. Shaggy made no attempt at stopping them and simply let out a grin at their incompetence.

"I would recommend you stand down." Shaggy said firmly.

"Not today." Ryder said getting back up and charging at him. Shaggy smiled once more not moving a muscle at the small boy running towards him. All of the pups laid in fear, they had never seen anything like this. Chase was the first to get back up to help Ryder, followed by the rest of the pups who were still uncertain on what to do, but charged the tall man anyway.

The man spread his arms out beside him forming a t-pose stance. Upon his arms stopping in the air another burst of light shot out in all directions. The Paw Patrol were thrown onto the ground once more, this time staying down. "I told you to stand down."

"What is going on?" Zuma asked on the verge of tears laying next to Rocky.

"I don't know Zuma, just stay calm alright?" Rocky said sympathetically comforting the brown pup. Zuma nodded and looked at the man once more.

Ryder stood up, but the pups did not follow, "Who are you and what do you want?" He said with fear in every word he spoke.

"I just want to take a quick tour. Is that so wrong? As for who I am, I told you. I am Shaggy." The man continued to stand in a t-pose. There was a slight aura around him with something mesmerizing about it. All of the pups and Ryder stared into, unable to break away. There was a horn that came from the sea. Everyone turned to look at it and saw a boat heading straight for the beach. Before anyone could react, it crashed onto the sand and crushed Shaggy within a second. It was the flounder and on it was Cap'n Turbot who looked both shocked and worried.

"Oh my gosh!" Shouted Skye who was staring at where the man previously was. "Is he… Dead?"

All of the other pups and even Ryder paused to comprehend what just happened. After a few seconds Ryder broke the silence, "Cap'n Turbot? What… How… When-"

"Ryder!" Cap'n Turbot shouted jumping out of the flounder and onto the sand.

"Cap'n Turbot, did you just-"

"I saw what that berserkly bizarre man was doing and had to swiftly stop him."

"You killed-" There was a loud rumble emanating from under the flounder. It began to crack and light shot out from inside. There was a sudden boom that followed sending everyone flying back once more, light shot out from every direction. Standing there was Shaggy, who looked completely unharmed. The slight aura that came from him early was now shining brighter than ever. Blue fire arose from every inch of his body.

"Zoinks, you managed to catch me off guard. I am indeed impressed." Everyone was silent. All of the pups looked at each other before looking back at the man. "However, you did also manage to make me angry. Luckily for you, I offer a chance. Stand down now, or face the consequences.

For a moment no one moved. Ryder and Cap'n Turbot just stood there and stared at the man. Chase stood up and turned towards Shaggy. "Chase stand down." Skye begged, but Chase ignored her and approached the man. All of the other pups followed his actions. They stood up and marched towards the man, all ready to do whatever it takes to stop him. Ryder didn't try to stop them, he instead joined them in one last stand.

"Very well." He said, "Let us make it a good and fair fight than?"

The pups jumped up at the man and Ryder charged at him once more. Shaggy smiled and readied himself. Chase leaped at his arm, Shaggy merrily stepped to the side which caused the German shepherd to plummet into the sand. "Who are you anyway?" Shaggy asked ducking down as Skye and Marshall tried to attack his head.

"The Paw Patrol, we serve and protect Adventure Bay!" Ryder yelled as he ran towards Shaggy with all of his force. Shaggy put up his hand and a beam of light emitted from it causing Ryder to be sent back.

"Well you are not doing a very good job of it are you?" Shaggy inquired with a grin on his face. Rubble ran up to his leg but was instantly kicked back, "Just give up already."

"No!" Chase yelled out from behind him, "We pledged to serve and protect!"

"Then do your job." Shaggy bent down and punched the sand with his fist. A massive shock wave occurred sending waves of sand flying through the air. It smashed into everyone putting them into the ground once more. "I guess that is it huh?"

"What are you?" Ryder asked one last time.

"It matters not what I am. All that matters is that I am something you can't protect your people from. Guess who can? Me."

"What are you saying?" Ryder asked defeated.

"You are no longer needed here. Well, at least your pups."

"What?" More beams of light shot out from Shaggy, each one grabbing a different pup and one holding down Ryder, "What are you doing?" Shaggy didn't answer. Instead the pups rose into the air, attempting to escape from his grasp.

"Let's see how Adventure Bay does without them."

"NO!" Ryder shouted. It was too late, with the twitch of his finger all the pups swung back away from the water, before soaring back towards it. The beams of light disappeared and the pups were sent flying off into the ocean and incredible speeds. In a matter of seconds they disappeared into the horizon. Their screams disappearing into nothing. There was complete silence as Ryder was freed from the light. He ran towards the edge of the beach and fell onto his knees. Tears began to come down his face, just a while ago he was waking up to what he thought was a normal day, and now he had lost everything he loved.

"Wonder how far I managed to get them." Shaggy remarked.

"You-"

"What are you planning on doing? You couldn't even cause me to flinch with all of them, now you are all alone." Ryder just froze staring off into the ocean, refusing the believe that everything he had lived for was taken from him. Shaggy patted him on the shoulder, Ryder didn't react in any way. Shaggy walked away from Ryder, leaving him to contemplate everything that had just happened. Cap'n Turbot who had backed away from all the fighting approached him. He to stared off into the ocean wondering if he was dreaming.

There was not a word spoken between the two. Instead, Ryder got up with a face empty of anything, he walked back planning on heading towards the lookout slowly. Shaggy had disappeared, Ryder didn't even care. All he wanted was to know if his pups were alive or not. As he headed back towards his home, the ominous air continued to hang reminding him of the feeling that he experienced before anything had ever happened.


	2. The Mysterious Island

Waves crashed against the sand; The wind blew through the tropical trees while wildlife creeped through the flora of the island. A small brown pup opened his amber eyes slowly, not knowing whether or not he was still in Adventure Bay and everything that had happened was a dream. It took him a few seconds to realize the truth, this wasn't the place that he called home. He quickly stumbled to his feet and spun around in every direction. Just a few feet away from him was the vast never-ending ocean. There was nothing as far as the eye could see.

At first the pup was panicked before the weight of the situation hit him. He was stranded on an island and for all he knew every other pup was dead. Tears formed in his eyes as he sat down and stared at the golden sand. It was hot and untouched. The island seemed to have been devoid of any humans for centuries. The forest behind him sounded as if it was filled with life, but nothing that would help him off this island. The sky was dark and filled with millions of glowing stars. He realized that he had been unconscious for quite a long time, considering it was morning when everything had happened.

Not knowing what to do next, Zuma stood up and turned to face the unknown. Just because he believed that he lost everything he loved, he was not willing to give up. Shaggy re-entered his mind which triggered a million questions that hadn't thought about at first. How was he alive after being flung through seemingly hundreds of miles in the air. Perhaps this was actually heaven and all of his friends were waiting for him in the forest. Or maybe it was purgatory, where he was trapped until… He didn't really know what to think. All that he could think of doing was walking into the forest and facing whatever was in there.

There was something moving behind the bushes. What it was Zuma did not know. Anything was a possibility in his mind. Whether or not he wanted to find out was another thing on it's own. He begrudgingly continued to wander towards the woodland. The sounds of the wildlife grew louder and louder before they suddenly completely stopped. Now, instead of the sounds of strange birds and the hissing of unknown creatures, there was only one sound of something sneaking through some grass.

Zuma bent down to hide behind a bush. The noise was growing louder and louder as if it was approaching him and an increasing speed. His breathing grew heavier and quicker as the anticipation inside him built up of what was coming almost causing to jump out and attack, but he resisted the urge. It stopped a few feet away from where he was hiding. He did not know what to do next. Suddenly, something jumped on him and tackled to him to the ground. He pushed it onto its side and pulled his paw up ready to swing before it spoke in a frantic voice.

"Zuma! Oh my god, I am so sorry!" It said before Zuma realized who it was. He got off the gray pup and it took a few seconds for the chocolate lab to collect himself.

"Wocky? What are you doing?" He finally asked after a few seconds of bewilderment.

"Sorry, but I didn't know it was you," Rocky said innocently, standing up and walking over to Zuma.

"So you just tackle the fiwst thing you see?" Zuma asked a bit angry and shaken up.

"I'm sorry Zuma, I really didn't-"

"It's fine Wocky. I just… I just don't know what is going on," Zuma admitted as he looked down at his paws. Rocky scooted over next to him and put one of his paws on the confused pup's back.

Zuma calmed down after Rocky rubbed it slowly comforting him, "Don't worry Zuma. We will figure it out. First we need to figure out where we are."

Zuma nodded in agreement and stood up with Rocky. They both looked around before looking at each other. Their eyes met for a second before Zuma began to wonder what had happened to Rocky, "What happened to you?"

"Oh, well I woke up around… Maybe twenty minutes ago?"

"Twenty minutes ago?"

* * *

_Twenty minutes earlier_

Rocky jumped up in fear, quickly turning around in every direction trying to figure out where he was. The place where he was standing in was surrounded by trees, all forming around him in a perfect circle like shape. He was standing on some sort of rock carving. It was to big to make out any sort of object or symbol from where he was.

The trees were sitting on hills that also surrounded the mysterious stone carving. They were small but big enough to block Rocky's view. Not knowing what to do, the Mongrel began to walk towards the hills. He glanced at the trees as he walked by them, inspecting them from top to bottom. They were in such a formation that they could not have grown there naturally but rather planted there by some sort of life form.

A loud thud somewhere over the hills spooked him. He jumped but quickly collected himself trying to say calm and determined. The thoughts of what happened to the others began to fill his mind. He refused to believe that they were dead, and judging by the fact that he woke up on a rock hard structure with no injuries at all, chances are the others were fine as well.

He ran in the direction of the noise, climbing up the hill and stopping at the very top. The realization that this was some random island in the middle of the ocean hit him. To his left was some sort of tropical forest alongside a beach and the ocean, while in front of him and to his right was a far taller mountain. It towered over him and he contemplated climbing it to get a better look at his surroundings.

He glanced around once more before stopping and staring at a certain spot on the beach. It was far away and barely visible, but a small brown figure could be made out. It appeared motionless and showed no signs of life. The hope that it was Zuma was the only thing that brought him to the decision to check it out. He took a deep breath and wandered down into the forest. The possibility that his best friend was dead sat in the back of his head. He tried not to dwell on it and shook his head trying to focus.

When he reached the edge of the forest, the sounds of wildlife filled his ears. It caused him to stop dead in his tracks, worried at what could be living in there. Something about it was off though. The sounds seemed to repeat over and over, not changing in location or volume. It didn't sound like anything was moving.

Rocky carefully moved into the woodland, trying to figure out was going on within it. The noises continued to grow before they suddenly stopped, then suddenly continuing. The pup came to a halt and looked in the direction of one of the sounds. Whatever it was coming from wasn't moving and it seemed as if it was coming from a tree.

"Hello?" Rocky asked trying to establish if he was truly alone or not. There was no response, instead the sounds continued to play as if nothing had ever been said. Rocky approached the tree from which it seemed a few of the sounds were coming from. When he reached it he discovered that all of the noises in the forest were not coming from any sort of life, but rather it came from sort of electronic device. Upon seeing this the uncertainty of the island, or wherever he was only increased.

"What is going on here?" he asked himself. After thinking for a few moments he suddenly remembered seeing what could potentially be Zuma on the beach. He forgot about what he had just discovered and ran in the direction of where he last saw the pup on the beach. He was trying to move as quickly as possible but the bushes only got thicker and thicker. It got to the point where he was on the verge of giving up, before they began to shrink thinner and thinner.

Reaching the other side of what appeared to be a wall of bushes and vines spanning father than his eyes could see. It appeared artificial and created as if it was meant to keep something out from it. The side that he came out on appeared to be more natural, it was still devoid of any signs of life besides the artificial animal noises, but it seemed as if the plants had grown naturally.

Bushes rustled behind him causing the gray pup to spin around. He couldn't make out where or what it came from, so he hid behind a bush and waited for something more to happen. Something inside him was urging him to find out it what it was rather than hide. He tried to resist the urge but he couldn't.

Rocky stood back up and glared at where he had last heard the movement. Slowly, he sneaked towards it bent down and ready to pounce. There was a fear building up inside of him, a fear that whatever was behind the bush was aggressive and potentially dangerous. He chose not to dwell and it. He jumped over the bush and tackled a small brown pup.

* * *

Zuma's eyes were wide open after hearing Rocky's story. The entire situation became even more confusing. A million more questions filled Zuma's mind. He wondered whether or not the island was real. After all, surviving something like falling thousands of miles from the sky was typically unheard of. The mention of all the noises heard from within the forest being fake also made him confused but also made him somewhat relieved.

"If you are alive, maybe the others are alive as well?" Zuma asked Rocky trying to be hopeful.

Rocky nodded in agreement, "I think there is a good chance considering I woke up on rocks," he paused for a second as a sudden thought entered his mind, "Unless I was placed there by someone or something."

"Why would it just leave you there then. Where were you? You mentioned something about the wock appearing as if it was a symbol for something."

"That is what it looked like, but I could not make anything out. There were to many things going through my head at the time."

They both paused and got lost in their thoughts for a few a moment. Was any of this really happening? Nothing that was going on made sense. Perhaps even their entire life before was a dream and they had just woken up. Hundreds of possibilities were flowing through their brains.

"If the other pups are alive, where are they right now?" asked Rocky.

* * *

A German shepherd slowly opened his eyes and blinked rapidly, comprehending what had just happened. It was completely dark around him, the only light source coming from a torch in the distance. This only confused him even more than he already was. He didn't understand how he could have ended up where he was. He heard movements around him, which caused him to stand up immediately and readied himself.

A large figure stood a few feet in front of him, facing away from him looking at a wall. The figure was extremely big. Chase had trouble trying to make out any features on it. It was very tall with a large round head and strange long ears on either side of it's head. The figure moved slowly and didn't appear to notice Chase. The German shepherd kept his head down low and sneaked across the floor in the direction of the light.

"Leaving so soon?" a mighty voice said as his words echoed throughout the cave. Chase stopped dead in his tracks upon hearing this. A chill went down his spine as footsteps got louder and louder behind him. He slowly turned around to face the unknown. Behind him he saw the figure more clearly now. It wasn't human, or anything that he had ever seen before. It was a large green creature, with strange stubby ears and a white long-sleeved tunic within a brown turtle designed mini vest. He wore brown pinstripe pants and dark short boots with a rip folded design in each side.

"Uh…" was all that could escape Chase's mouth he stared wide-eyed at the strange green creature.

"Have you never seen an ogre before?" the creature asked looking down at him, holding a torch in his left hand.

"What?" Chase asked trying to back away towards the exit of the cave.

"Don't worry there little fella, we ogres are friendly. Though I must ask, whereabouts did you come from?"

Chase stared at the ogre for a few seconds, inspecting his every feature. It was a creature that he had never seen before. Still, he chose not to question it after seeing a man crashed onto the earth, potentially from the cosmos. "I came from Adventure Bay," he began to tell the mighty ogre, "Me and my friends were just waking up like any other day and then we saw something crash out of the sky." The ogre tilted his head intrigued by what the small pup was saying, "He told his name was Shaggy, before there was a fight and... it was all bright and I woke up here. Last thing I remember was being thrown off the beach from an incredibly strong force."

The ogre's expression changed from being friendly to completely serious. It took him a moment to take in the information that the German shepherd laid on him. "Shaggy?" Was all that he asked after hearing everything. It seemed as if he was worried upon hearing the name.

"Yes he told me that is his name," Chase said wondering why the name caused the ogre to worry. The ogre's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. He turned and ran deeper into the cave. Instead of taking this chance to leave Chase pursued him. Being curious the pup wanted to find out exactly what was going on. He ran as he fast he could trying to catch up. The ogre ran faster than any sort of man or any sort of animal that he had ever known. The footsteps it created were loud and thunderous.

"Hold on!" Chase shouted trying to catch his breath. The cave was long, dark and appeared as if it was never-ending. On the walls were strange writings that he could not make out. As he ran deeper and deeper into the cave he realized that the loud footsteps had stopped. Chase also stopped and slowly walked forward. There was a light emanating from a circular room that was connected to the cave. In it was the ogre sitting down on a log while staring down at his lap.

"What is going on here?" Chase asked wanting to understand the reason behind the ogre suddenly running away.

"What is your name pup?" the ogre asked ignoring the German shepherd's question.

For a moment Chase was hesitant to answer not knowing who was sitting in front of him, but he decided that at this point he might as well. "My name is Chase. Who are you?" he demanded trying to act and sound tough. Deep inside of him he worried for both his friends and his own safety, but the ogre that was sitting in front of him gave off an oddly warm feeling.

"I am Shrek. I come from a place far away from here, where I lost everything that I have ever known… And loved." Shrek looked up from his lap and stared at a wall which he blocked Chase from viewing.

Chase didn't know what to say. A part of him did not believe what he had just spoke. However, another part of him did. There was just something deep down within him telling him to believe in what Shrek said. "What happened to you?" he questioned sounding more sympathetic now. Chase felt sorry for Shrek. The thought of losing everything was something that he could bring himself to think about, even if that might be what something that happened to him over the course of one dreadful morning.

"It's not about what happened to me. It is about what is going to happen to you," Shrek claimed as he stood up and turned to face Chase. "Shaggy," he began to say, "Is a powerful being. The creator of everything known. Yes, the creator of the universe."

Chase had no idea what to think. Maybe all of this was a joke and he was just dreaming. He wanted to just wake up and be back in Adventure Bay; Back in his pup-house waking up to a loving family with his friends. Nothing happened. Accepting his reality he decided to listen to what Shrek had to say, "You are telling me that we were attacked by the creator of the universe?"

"No. I said that Shaggy was the creator of the universe. There are many beings named Shaggy within this universe. The Shaggy I speak of was a good soul. When he had created life he celebrated. He was a very powerful man, capable of almost anything. However, his power levels were unmatched. Even his human body could not contain it all, so he split his spirit into two."

"Wait," Chase interjected, "Are you saying that we are fighting an evil version of him?"

"Well young pup, if I could finish then you would find out." Chase sighed and lied down begrudgingly, listening to the rest of Shrek's tale. "Now, where was I? When he had split his spirit, the second spirit became corrupt. It had a mind of its own and was hellbent on destroying everything the real Shaggy had created. It slaughtered millions of lifeforms and species, including mine. The true Shaggy couldn't just sit around well he watched his creation fall apart. So he set out to stop the corrupted version. When he finally caught up to him, the damage was already done. There was barely anything left. Both filled with rage they fought with all of their will. Only one managed to come out victorious and unfortunately the victor was against the side of life."

"Well if the evil version had won, why wouldn't he finish what he originally set out to do?"

"Just because you win a war doesn't mean everything goes back to the way it was before. Shaggy left his evil doppelgänger severely beaten. For the first time in its existence it faced off a threat of the same power. The only reason it was able to win was because of the good shaggy's love for life. Even in the face of genocide, he couldn't bring himself to kill a single life form. Before he passed he used the last bit of his power to banish the evil Shaggy from anything he could harm. A fragment of his soul was transferred into his creation, causing him to have one fatal flaw, he could never bring himself to kill another life form ever again."

"Are you saying that this evil Shaggy can't harm anyone?" Chase inquired processing everything in his head.

"Killing and harming are two very different things. He won't directly kill anyone, but that doesn't mean he can't use other means to get what he wants."

"And what is that he wants?"

"That is something I do not have the answer for. All I know is that he had invaded your home, everyone there is in mortal danger."

Chase glanced down in worry and fear. Fear for Ryder and every resident of Adventure Bay. Fear for everything that he loved. His worries were only increased after hearing the story of Shaggy. If what he said was true, how would he or anyone have any chances of stopping the evil counterpart of Shaggy?

"While what can I do? I already tried to stop him, but we couldn't even touch him. He was crushed by a boat and it didn't even leave a mark. Our chances of doing any are zero here. What could we do to stop the creator of the universe equal?"

"Just because he is incredibly powerful, doesn't make him immortal. Even he can die just as the real Shaggy did."

"That doesn't really solve anything does it though?" Chase started to say getting angrier as Shrek continued to speak, "We are just pups fighting a man with the power to kill off entire species! What are we gonna do, swim over to Adventure Bay empty-handed and fight an incredibly powerful being? Is that what you want from us!" he shouted and stood up in rage gritting his teeth. Seeing Shrek look down at him sympathetically caused him to realize how he was acting. He sat down again and sighed, "I'm sorry but what could we ever do?"

Shrek smiled unexpectedly. He walked over towards the bewildered pup and kneeled down in front of him, "Just because someone is powerful, doesn't mean they don't have weaknesses. These pups you speak of, I have seen them." Chase looked up at Shrek with eyes growing ever wider, "Shaggy is but one being. He is alone. But you, you aren't alone. You have friends and family to back you up. Besides, there is more to the story then I have told you so far."

A feeling of hope began to form in Chase's soul. He still fully did not understand why. Even if Shaggy was alone, he still managed to beat the Paw Patrol with absolutely no effort whatsoever. Something about Shrek's words brought a feeling to him. Something that he couldn't quite put his paw on, "What do you mean?"

"You think that you are the only ones who have wanted to stop Shaggy before? Many have tried, but due to the worry of losing their loved ones they went alone. Not to fight him, but rather to find what the true Shaggy had left for them."

"What are you saying?"

"When the true Shaggy died, he broke into eight different fragments, each containing powers strong enough to fight against his doppelgänger with. Where they went, no one knows. It is said that the locations are only known to those who truly want to fight for what is right. Even with that, none of have been found. Accept for one."

Chase gazed into Shrek's eyes intrigued in what he had to say. He no longer felt fearful of the ogre and he felt rather warm around him. Whether or not what he had to say was true was still something that he argued against in his mind. "One? And, how do you know all of this?"

"Let's just say I have a past that I have chosen to hide from. But these fragments, each contain power's strong enough to take out Shaggy on their own, are hidden around the universe. But one of them lives on this very planet. Near this very land. It is an item that wields the power of life, it is said to speak for the tree's."

"What is it?" Chase asked.

"Known to some as the fragment of life. But to those who know of it's location, realize that the fragment has taken the form of a blade. A blade known only by one name, the Lorax sword."


	3. The Hidden Valley

Ryder staggered across the concrete road. The sun was shining in the sky, but everything felt as if it was dark. Everyone was hidden inside, peeking out of the windows watching him. The immense sorrow that filled him had changed to nothing but anger. He clenched his fist as he thought about Shaggy. A complete stranger that he tried to help, taking everything from him. Even after being thrown around by him like a toy, he still refused to give up.

When he reached the bridge he looked up and saw Shaggy standing there. "Shaggy!" he shouted out breaking the silence. Shaggy turned around to face the boy. A grin came to his face when he saw Ryder.

Shaggy took a few steps towards Ryder before shouting back, "After all of that, you still stand against me?"

"You took everything from me!" Ryder yelled out in anger clenching his fists, holding back the urge to charge towards Shaggy.

Shaggy just shook his head, "No. For the longest time now I have been held back from killing anyone. Your pups, they are fine. Where they are is the question that you should be asking."

Ryder looked down in confusion. After seeing his pups be thrown across the sea, he couldn't believe that they somehow survived, but another part of him believed it. After all, his entire world had just been turned upside down, "What do you mean?"

"A part of me, well not technically me, is holding me back. Something that is out of my control. You see boy, my creator tried to kill me. However, the invention always outlasts the inventor. Before his demise he split himself into eight different pieces. Eight fragments that held incredible power within them. For centuries I have tracked them down trying to find out where they are and what they do. That brought me here."

"Here? Adventure Bay? There is nothing here that is of incredible power!" Ryder shouted out filled with rage once more. "What here could possibly be of use to you?"

"My dear boy, I never said that one of the fragments was here. For all I know this planet holds nothing of value. I located one the fragments floating around in space. However, when I got there I realized that getting my hands on it wasn't so easy. It was protected, and when I tried to get it self destructed. I was sent flying across the universe, and just happened to end up here. That is all."

Ryder was even more furious now, but also puzzled, "If that is so… Why did you do that to my pups?"

Shaggy laughed, "Maybe you should have listened when I told you to stand down. Anyway, enough chatter. Now you understand my purpose and what happened to your pups. How about you let me do what I need to do, and I will be on my way."

Before Ryder could respond Shaggy turned back around towards the lookout. He moved at a slowly as if he had all the time in the world. Ryder's raged still hadn't subsided. He wanted more answers, he wanted his pups back. He wanted everything to just go back to the way it was before. Before he had ever met Shaggy. If it wasn't for the fact that Shaggy had crashed down from space, and did what he did to the pups, he would never have believed what he was told. If Shaggy was telling the truth, then Ryder had an entirely new view on his existence.

Having made up his mind, Ryder pursued Shaggy. He ran across the bridge towards the lookout, which Shaggy was nearing the entrance of. Upon seeing the empty pup-houses and remembering what happened to his pups, his fury skyrocketed. He couldn't control himself even knowing that nothing he was about to do could bring his pups back to him. He still held onto the feeling that his pups were dead, not trying to give his hopes that there was potential in finding them again.

With a shake of his head, forgetting about the consequences, he ran towards the entrance of the lookout. The power was restored and everything was working once more. When the door to the lookout opened he saw the bottom of the elevator going up. After a few seconds it came back down to his surprise, as if Shaggy wanted him to confront him at the top. He got in it and waited for it to reach the top. He tapped in foot on the ground impatiently before it finally reached the top.

Inside the top of the lookout was a large circular room. A large periscope was there that could be used to monitor events around all of Adventure Bay. There was a pole which Ryder used to reach the garage where his vehicle was stored along with a slide that the pups used to reach their vehicles. There was a large TV screen that lowered from the ceiling used to display missions that the Paw Patrol would go on. Remembering all of these things made Ryder even more furious. Underneath it was a control panel where Shaggy was standing.

"I knew you would come," a voice said in front of him. Shaggy was staring out the window squinting his eyes as if he was trying to look at something.

"Give me back my pups," Ryder demanded. He was clenching both of his fists and holding back to the urge to fight.

"I told you, you and your pups clearly are not capable of protecting the people of Adventure Bay," Shaggy announced, "So I decided that before I leave I could contact some of my acquaintances." Shaggy lied, not revealing his true goals.

"I don't care. Give them back."

"Or what? Are you gonna try and stop me?" Shaggy laughed at the thought that such a young boy could be so determined to stop him. Especially after beating him with such immense ease. He turned around to look at the boy. Upon seeing him he became surprised. Ryder looked furious and determined to do whatever it takes to take down Shaggy. A mere boy that he had never met before, showed no fear in the face of someone who managed to cause him such despair.

It was something that Shaggy had never saw before, he was impressed but still found it humorous, "I must say, for someone of your age and strength, you do impress me. However, I did warn you." Shaggy walked up towards Ryder who instantly threw a punch at him. He grabbed his hand and twisted it sideways with ease, "One thing you should learn. Anger will never get you anywhere."

Ryder tried to punch him again but Shaggy picked him up and spun around with him still in his hand. He released him causing him to fly towards the glass window. Just a moment before he hit Shaggy shot a beam of light towards him causing him to be sent flying out of the lookout at an incredible fast rate. He flew over mountains and through the clouds before disappearing from sight.

Shaggy smiled once more and faced the control panel. He pushed a few buttons before the TV came down and turned on. Pushing some more buttons it eventually changed over to a news broadcast. In it there was a reporter standing in front a crater similar to the one Shaggy had created when he arrived at Adventure Bay.

"Well isn't that just convenient?" he said grinning. Shaggy lifted his hand and blew a hole through the TV in front of him and the glass behind it. He stepped back into the fresh air and took a deep breath before setting off to find what he sought.

* * *

A gentle breeze was flowing through the air. The sky was as blue as the ocean, with white fluffy clouds slowly moving through it. There were bushy trees with bright green leaves surrounding a small patch of flowers. The flowers were blooming all around a young boy who was lying on the grass unconscious. He groaned and sat up slowly rubbing the back of his head, taking in his surroundings. His clothes were torn as if he had been in a fight with a bear. As he looked around he tried to remember what had happened. He stood up, breathing rapidly as he tried to figure out where he was. All he could see were the trees and a small hill leading up to something. It appeared as if there was a small path that went up it, coming from out of the forest that was on either side of him.

Coming from the other side of the hill was what looked like a trail of smoke leading into the sky. Ryder, not knowing what better decision he could make, decided to see where it was coming from. When he reached the top of the hill he looked down to see at the bottom was a small wooden house sitting in the middle of a valley. It was a house unlike anything he had ever seen. It appeared blocky and pixellated, as if it wasn't meant to be in the current world. Surrounding the valley were large and tall mountains that reached to the heavens. Snow was falling on top of them creating a soft and fluffy blanket. The visuals were oddly soothing and calming. Ryder's interest on what was inside the house couldn't be contained. He completely forgot about Shaggy, the Paw Patrol and Adventure Bay. All he cared about in the moment was discovering the secrets of the mysterious and intriguing valley.

On the house was a small, glass window that allowed for Ryder to see inside of the house. He couldn't make out much, but through it he saw what looked like a furnace that was glowing red with flames next to what he only thought could be some sort of workbench. He walked towards it while periodically glancing around him, admiring every bit of the landscape. Everything appeared pure and untouched, as if no soul had ever inhabited in the location. He knew it that someone had to be here, or have been here. Otherwise there was no way a flame could stay lit for so long. Ryder stopped about halfway down the hill after hearing a noise from inside the house. It was a loud clanking sound that must have been made by metal hitting metal. The noise caused him to take cover behind a large rock sitting just off to the side of the trail. He heard a door open and footsteps followed walking up the trail. He rotated around the rock trying to stay out of sight from whoever lived in the area.

When the footsteps had finally dissipated he stuck his head above the rock to see if the coast was clear. He saw that the door to the house was still open and took the opportunity to see what was inside. He hurried over to it and entered to see that the inside of the house was almost the same as the outside. There were a few paintings on the wall that had images formed by small squares. The interior was lit by torches that also shared the same pixellated look as the rest of the design. Ryder thought that he must have either been dreaming or he banged his head hard enough to begin seeing things. Before he could explore the rest of the house the footsteps returned and this time they were coming back to the house. He looked around frantically to find a hiding spot. There was a trapdoor that lead down to what must have been a basement and another door in the corner of the room that must have lead to another room. He contemplated which to choose for a second before settling on the trapdoor.

Ryder opened it and hopped down into the chamber below. The walls were made of stone and there were many torches on the walls that illuminated a long hallway. The stone appeared to be in a very similar style to the wooden walls of the upper floor. He couldn't decide whether he should continue to run down the hallway or see who was walking around above him. The trapdoor was still open and the door to the house slammed shut. Ryder jumped and stuck the tip of his head into the main room. A man with dark brown hair, dark skin and blue eyes was standing in the middle of it. He wore a light blue shirt that was un-tucked on the left hand side and in the back alongside a pair of blue jeans and grey shoes. The man, like the rest of everything in the house, was pixellated and blocky. He had no fingers and stood with his arms at his side.

The man looked around the house as if something was off. Ryder ducked when he glanced over at the trapdoor. He didn't seem to notice that it was open even though it was initially closed when Ryder had entered. Ryder stood up once again and saw the man walk over to the furnace which was no longer flaming. Somehow, he reached into the furnace and took whatever was in it out. The man showed no signs of pain touching the smoldering hot iron he was now holding. The blocky man walked over to the crafting table that sat next to the furnace. Ryder could now see that there were several more pieces of iron on it. The crafting table had nine slots on the top in rows of three, with all but two containing a piece of iron. The two being the top left and the one next to it. The man placed the iron he was holding into the top left slot and all of the pieces lifted into the air. They formed together into a ball before it morphed into an iron chestplate.

Ryder's mouth dropped at the sight. He had never seen anything like it before. After staring at the now formed armor in front of him he remembered how he ended up there. He began to breathe heavily as the early morning flashed back through his mind. He jumped back down into the chamber and ran down the hallway. He had no idea where he was going and just as he thought that the hallway would never end, a purple light began to illuminate the black void in front of him. At the sight Ryder paused to contemplate whether he should have run from the man. He was afraid that maybe that man could have been related to Shaggy, though how we would be was another thought on it's own. The purple glowing light at the end of the hallway grew bigger as Ryder slowly moved towards it. After a few more steps it was revealed that the light was coming from some sort of rectangular object. In the middle was a purple substance with a bunch swirls in it. Around the middle was some sort of purple stone.

Footstep noises grew louder and louder behind Ryder but he didn't notice. Whatever was in front of him was admitting a strange sound. It was sort of like a pulse with what could be described as voices calling out from within. He slowly lifted his hand and moved it towards the purple substance. Just before he was able to touch it a voice called out from behind him, "No!" Ryder instantly turned around and frantically searched around for the source. The same man he saw in the house was running up to him. He was holding a blue sword and wearing the iron chestplate alongside several more pieces of iron armor all over his body.

"Who are you?" Ryder asked backing into the corner in fear.

"My name is Steve, I am not trying to hurt you," the man said lowering his sword and placing it on the floor, "You just gave me a fright. That is all."

Ryder moved forward, less afraid than he was before, but still trying to stay a safe distance away so that Steve could not make any sudden moves, "Steve? Where am I? How did I get here? Also, my name is Ryder."

"I don't know," Steve replied, "But I do know that you should never touch that portal."

"What portal?" Asked Ryder was turned back to face the purple object behind him. After a moment he pieced it together and had many more questions enter his head, "That portal?"

"Yes, that portal. It leads to a place which a person like you should never enter." Steve took off the iron helmet that he was wearing, which instantly shrunk down into a tiny version of itself, which he placed somewhere on his back. Ryder's mouth dropped once again at the sight, but he was more interested in the portal that sat behind him.

"What do you mean?" he asked feeling more comfortable now that Steve no longer wore the iron armor.

"Let's just say it basically takes you to hell." Ryder's face went blank. No further questions about the portal were asked.

"Ummm. Sure. How do I get out of here?" he asked wanting to get back to Adventure Bay, even though he had no idea what he would do once he got there.

"Well you go through the hatch and we are back at the house," Steve responded turning and pointing his arm back in the other direction.

"No, I mean out of this place, this valley. Back to Adventure Bay," Ryder said moving closer to Steve.

Steve's facial expression became confused, "Adventure Bay? Never heard of it. How about we talk not next to the nether portal?" he said picking up his sword and placing it on his back. The armor was nowhere to be seen.

"Nether portal? Alright that is probably a good idea. It sounds like demons are living inside of it," Ryder said as he and Steve began to walk back down the hallway. Ryder closely observed everything about Steve as they continued to walk. He hadn't asked about why everything was the way it was. In all honesty he didn't really care. All he wanted was to see himself and his pups back at the lookout and everything to be normal again. They finally reached the trapdoor that lead back into the main room of the house. Ryder was silent for the entire walk back, alongside Steve. It seemed that they both were processing the situation. Ryder had never seen any sort of place like the valley where Steve lived and noticed how Steve acted as if he had never seen another person in a very long time.

Steve was the first to exit the chamber, followed by Ryder a few seconds later. "What is the place?" Ryder finally asked after holding the question back for the whole walk.

Steve was hesitant to answer, but he nodded remembering his past and answered the question, "This is my home. I have lived here for a very long time, hiding away from the rest of the world. I know, you are wondering why I and the house look this way." The iron armor appeared in Steve's hand. He placed them on the workbench and walked over to the furnace.

After a slight pause he continued, "This wasn't always my home, I used to live in a world where everything was this way." Steve grabbed the sword off his back and inspected it, "My world was taken from me, and now I live here. Hiding away for reasons... That you don't need to know."

"Your world was taken from you? By who? How? How did you end up here?" Ryder tried hard to hold back on asking so many questions. At this point, he was convinced that this was just a bad dream. He closed his eyes and tried to wake up. He wanted to wake up to his pups jumping on him and licking his face.

"There was a man of incredible strength. We thought him with all our will, but it wasn't enough. And..." Steve noticed Ryder closing his and clenching his face along with his fists, "Are you alright?"

Ryder snapped back into reality, "No, nothing is alright," he admitted. Ryder sat down on the floor and stared into his lap.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked putting down his sword and walking over towards Ryder so that he could comfort him.

"I just woke up like any normal day, went to greet my pups and then something happened. Something that I never thought would ever happen..." Ryder stopped reflecting on what happened earlier that day.

"What happened?" Steve asked sympathetically. He was standing in front of Ryder now, putting on of his hands on the distraught boy's shoulder.

Ryder was hesitant to answer, he still was unsure whether he could trust Steve but he decided that he might as well at this point, "A man named Shaggy crashed down from space, threw my pups across the world out of sight, and now I am here. Talking to a strange cube man who lives in a house made of only cubes, with a portal to hell under it," Ryder muttered, "This has to be a dream."

Ryder stood up and ran towards the wall. Steve tried to stop him but Ryder began banging his head on it. Steve grabbed him and pulled him away from the wall, stopping him from harming himself any further.

Ryder fell onto the floor and began to weep at the situation, "I just want to go home, I didn't ask for any of this. What did I do to end up here? All I ever wanted to do was help people."

"Ryder you need to calm down. I understand how you are feeling but if you want to get back to your home you need to stay strong," Steve claimed trying to calm Ryder down.

"What about my pups? Shaggy told me they were alive and in all honestly I might as well believe him at this point."

"Wait…" Steve began to ponder, "Shaggy?"

"That is what he said his name is."

Steve took a few steps back and was absolutely silent for a moment, then he spoke once more, "Come with me." Steve ran out of the house in a matter of seconds. Ryder stood up and argued with himself whether he should follow him. He decided that there wasn't really any other choice. Ryder pursued him and ran out of the door, he could just see the top of Steve's head disappear over the top of the hill.

"Wait up!" Ryder yelled as he ran up the hill. When he reached the top he saw Steve disappear into the forest. "Where are you going?"

"Hurry up!" A voice shouted back. Ryder picked up the pace and began to sprint in the direction he last saw Steve go. After a few seconds Steve came back into the view, who was standing staring over something and not moving.

Something was different about Steve. It appeared as if he had changed in appearance. He stilled wore the same clothes and had the same hair. Even his body remained relatively the same, but he almost looked more human than before. His arm now was jointed and he was less blocky than when he was in the house.

"Steve?" Ryder questioned seeing the un-familiar body of the man.

"Come here Ryder," Steve insisted.

Ryder took a deep breath and moved slowly towards the new Steve. Ryder saw that Steve was looking over a stump of where a tree once stood tall and proud. Around it was what most likely the ruins of the tree, split into four pieces. In it was a small glowing piece of something. It was yellow and in the shape of a small rock. "What is that?" Ryder questioned not bothering on asking why Steve looked the way he did.

"A powerful fragment that crashed landed here with me. I don't know much about it other than it hold incredible power, capable of destroying almost anything. For years I have tried to build a machine that could harness its power and distribute it, but I never managed to do so."

Ryder gazed into the stone, it's intoxicating light caused Ryder's eyes to open wider then he had ever opened them before. "Incredible power that can destroy almost anything? Why are you telling me this?"

"Shaggy has strength unmatched by any other being, at least to my knowledge. But this fragment and the other ones, just might be the one thing that can end his reign of terror."

"His reign of terror?"

"I don't know what he wants, or why he does what he does, but he was the one who took everything from me. When I ended up here this fragment came with me. I wasn't the only one who tried to harness its power, my people tried for centuries. Shaggy came in search for it, giving us one chance to hand it over. We… Refused. It didn't take long after that for Shaggy to destroy everything that I knew. Now I live my days out here, still trying to find a way to make a machine capable of killing him, to get revenge for the people who fell victim to his wrath."

Ryder looked up at Steve, who was still staring into the stone. His eyes were watery and his lips quivered, "Why are you telling me this?" Ryder asked once more.

"Because for the longest time now everyone has hidden away from Shaggy, or giving into his commands. I was hoping that maybe we could do different. Me and you could fight back."

"Whoa whoa. I can't just fight a man who is capable of destroying entire planets with little effort."

"That is why me and you could finally harness the power of the fragment that sits here in front of us."

"I'm just a ten-year old boy who is in charge of a team that has six pups and rescues people!"

"No. You are much more than that. I lied about not knowing what Adventure Bay is. You are an incredible inventor Ryder. Please, if you help me make something capable of using this fragment to its full potential, all of your worries will be solved."

Ryder, not knowing how Steve knew he was, or he knew what Adventure Bay was, backed away from Steve at the offer. He contemplated just running away right there, but how would that have solved anything. He thought about it for a few more seconds before reluctantly agreeing to help the man he met only a few moments ago.


	4. The Fragments of Shaggy

Cars could be heard zooming by just outside of the alley where a dally pup laid. The sky was dark and cloudy; Rain was on its way. The dally pup groaned as he tried to sit up. The smell of trash was strong and instantly filled his nostrils. He gasped as he realized he was lying inside of a trash can. The pup stumbled onto his feet and hopped out of it. He shook his body trying to rid himself of the smell. He looked around for a moment, figuring out where he was and what happened to him.

"Marshall?" a voice called out from behind him. The dally jumped and fell onto his stomach. A small cockapoo ran up to his side, "Marshall are you alright? What happened?" she asked helping him up.

"I could ask you the same question," Marshall admitted as he got back on his feet. He looked around once more. He was standing in some sort of narrow alleyway. Behind him the alley continued before breaking off into a turn while in front of him was a city street. People were walking by frequently. He stared at them for a second before asking, "Where are we?"

"I have no idea, I just woke up here a minute ago," Skye said also taking a look around. They both walked towards the street to find out if they could get some more information on their location.

"Are we dead?" Marshall asked thinking about what happened before he ended in the trash. How he managed to survive by landing in a trash can from being thrown across the planet was something he didn't understand. He thought about Shaggy and the rest of the Paw Patrol.

"Well if we are dead then I don't think we ended up in heaven," Skye said trying to make light of the situation.

"What about the rest of us, what if we are the only ones left?" Marshall whimpered.

"I think if we survived the rest of us are fine. Surely something is going on that we don't understand." Marshall nodded in agreement and sucked up his emotions. They both made it out of the alleyway and onto the street. They were in a big city with buildings towering over them all around. People walked by them, not even taking any notice to them.

"How did-" Marshall was cut off when he was kicked in the stomach. He fell onto his side and grunted. Skye gasped and quickly ran to his side before trying to figure out who kicked him.

"Oh my god!" a voice cried as footsteps ran up to him. Marshall looked up to see a tall boy with orange glasses and bushy brown hair. He wore a red jacket with large white 'B' on the upper left side. He had blue jeans and held a book in his left hand. "Are you alright pup?" He asked kneeling down and trying to aid him.

"What was that for?" Skye asked stepping in front of the boy defensively.

"Sorry that was a complete accident," the boy claimed standing back up and taking a few steps back, "I don't want any trouble."

Skye realized just how aggressive she looked and acted, so took a deep breath to calm herself down. She released the air built up inside her and said, "That's fine. Are you alright Marshall?"

"I'm ok!" Marshall yelled jumping back onto his feet. He turned to face the boy who had knocked him down, "Who are you?"

"My name is Ethan Humphries," the boy said nearly being knocked over by the people constantly passing by, "I suggest you guys stay off a busy sidewalk like this one, most people don't take notice of where they are walking." He stepped aside to let people pass by. "I see you have collars there, where are your owners?" he asked as he began to continue his walk down the sidewalk.

Marshall and Skye decided to follow him so they could get some information, "We are from Adventure Bay. How we got here is, an interesting story to say the least."

Ethan became interested in hearing their story. Suddenly, he looked as if he recognized the two pups, "Adventure Bay… Oh I see you guys are from the Paw Patrol!" He said in excitement.

Marshall and Skye looked at each other before looking back up at Ethan, "You know the Paw Patrol?" they both asked.

"Is that a surprise? I am sure many people have seen you on the television before."

Marshall and Skye were surprised. They didn't know that many people actually knew who they were. They thought that only the residents of Adventure Bay and neighbouring cities knew them. Than again, they had no idea were they actually were.

The three of them continued to walk for a few seconds, each of them lost in their own thoughts, before Marshall wondered where they were going, "Are you taking us somewhere or are we just following you for no reason?" he asked.

"Oh I am just taking a walk with no real destination in mind. If you like we could stop somewhere. Maybe then you could tell me how you ended up here."

"Sure, that would be nice." Skye said stretching as they all stopped for a moment. Ethan looked around to see if there was a place to stop by. A certain building caught his eye as stopped his search to stare at it.

"Wait actually, I did want to check out that place." he said as he looked down at the two pups. They both shrugged and agreed to follow him there. Little droplets of rain began to fall, causing the three to pick up the pace. Marshall and Skye could not see which building Ethan was pointing at. There were just to many people and cars going by that their view was blocked. After a few more moments of walking they finally reached a cross walk.

"Well since we need to stop for a moment anyway why don't you two tell me how you ended up here?" asked Ethan as pressed the cross walk button so that they could get to their destination.

Marshall sighed as he decided he might as well tell Ethan how he ended up on the sidewalk of some random city, "Well honestly you probably won't believe me, but a man from outer space crashed onto our beach, threw us across the ocean and I ended up waking up in a trash can where Skye found me."

Ethan's face went blank and his eyes widened. He nodded as he didn't know what to say or whether to believe them, "Alright... I mean it would explain why you smell the way you do."

"Do I really smell that bad?" Marshall asked sniffing himself.

"Well only if someone gets close enough to you," Ethan laughed watching the dalmatian gag at his own scent. Skye shook her head and placed in her paw. The light for them to cross finally came on. They walked across the road and the two pups took the opportunity to look at their surroundings. The city lacked in color and the buildings that towered over them appeared even larger now. Skye took a deep breath trying to keep herself calm.

"Is this the place?" Skye asked when they stopped at a storefront in the corner of the sidewalk. The walls were made of glass and inside were several rows of shelves each containing comic books.

"Uh…" Ethan looked down and pulled a phone out of his pocket. He turned it on and opened up an app that contained a map of their surroundings. There was a small mark right where they were standing. "I think so?"

"A comic book store?" Marshall asked he walked towards the entrance. He peeked through the door and turned to face Ethan who had a confused expression on his face. "Why did you want to check this place out?"

"My friend said something about there being a secret room in there."

Marshall chuckled, "Maybe you shouldn't believe anything your friends say." Ethan put the phone back in his pocket and sighed.

Skye smiled and walked up to Marshall, "I don't see a reason to not check it out," she said as she pushed open the door and entered the building.

"Wha-" Marshall said turning his head to see her walk in. "Hold on!" He shouted as he followed her.

Ethan shrugged his shoulders and sighed as he followed the two pups into the store. Skye wandered around and Marshall ran around the building trying to follow her. "Skye slow down!" he yelled as he tripped on his feet.

"Marshall I am walking pretty slowly here," she joked as she tried to see if there were any hidden doors or hatches on the roof.

Ethan paused when he entered the store. The floor was dirty as if it hadn't been cleaned in years. The roof appeared to be falling apart and cheaply made. Several lights were out and the man at the register had his head resting on his hand, his other tapping the counter impatiently. He didn't even turn to greet Ethan when he walked in, nor did he care that two dogs just entered the store.

"Skye we are wasting time here," Marshall said running up to Skye's side, "We need to find a way back to Adventure Bay and find out what happened to the rest of us!"

Before Skye could respond Ethan walked up behind them, "Marshall is right. It was stupid to believe that there was anything of interest in here."

Skye sighed as he nodded realizing just how serious their situation could be. "Fine," she said, "Well maybe we should find some sort of transport. Ethan you know anyone?"

"Not really-" A loud bang outside cut him off and caused the entire building to go dark. All of the lights shut out and the sounds of cars passing by stopped instantly. Marshall and Skye jumped in fear and covered their heads. It was if the entire had went silent for a second. The rain had picked up

"What the hell?" Ethan whispered as he and the two pups ran to the exit. They stepped outside to see that every street light had gone out, along with every single car stopped on the street. All of the headlights on the cars were out. The rain was falling harder than ever and the sky was much darker than it was before.

"Did the power go out?" Marshall asked seeing just how dark it had become compared to when they entered the shop.

"No." Ethan muttered as he and everyone else on the street were all looking around for the source of the noise. People got out of their cars trying to figure out the situation. "A power outage wouldn't do anything to the cars."

Another bang, louder than before, filled their ears once more. A flash of green light blinded them for a second. There was a crash just down the street and people's screams could be heard with it. "What is happening?" Skye cried as she and Marshall huddled together in fear.

Ethan looked around confused and frightened at what was happening. The bang was heard once more, but this time they saw were it was coming from. A green object was flying through the air before it crashed into the street a few feet away from the three. It created a large crater that caused several cars to fall into it. There was another burst of light and electric sparks flew out from it.

It started making a loud pulsing sound as if it was about to explode. Just before anything could happen the door to the store opened behind them. From it came a shadowy figure who wore a green sash across his chest that wrapped around him. It wasn't a human or a pup, instead it was a large turtle who held a wooden staff in his hand. The figure jumped into the air and waved his staff around the crater. Marshall and Skye's jaws dropped at the sight. The pulsing stopped and the sparks ceased after the turtle finished waving his staff around.

The figure picked up the green object. Ethan, Marshall and Skye could now see what the mysterious object was. It was a large green circular ball that was spiky all around. The turtle jumped out of the crater and walked up to them.

"Who are you?" the three asked as the turtle came up to them.

"My name is Oogway," said the turtle. He sounded very wise and appeared to be very old.

"Are you actually a turtle?" asked Marshall tilting his head.

"That is the question you ask after all of that?" Oogway joked as he gazed into the glowing green ball.

"I mean-"

"Don't worry young one. Come with me." Oogway said as he lifted up his staff once more. He waved it around again and the door to the comic book store changed. The entire interior of the building became dark as the windows became covered by smoke.

"Is that the hidden entrance your friend was talking about?" Skye asked to Ethan, who couldn't take his eyes off of what Oogway was doing.

"Perhaps it is." Oogway finally finished and the smoke cleared to reveal that all of the windows and glass was gone. They could no longer see what was inside as the outside was covered by sheets of paper containing a bunch of unknown symbols on it.

Oogway walked up to the door and opened it slightly, signaling for the pups to come in. Marshall and Skye paused for a moment and looked up at Ethan, whose jaw was wide open and eyes opened wide.

"Are you coming or what?" Oogway asked calmly as if what just happened was a completely normal occurrence to him.

"Yea…" Skye said fascinated as she walked into the strange new building. Marshall was stunned for a moment before realizing that Skye had just entered the building.

"Wait!" he yelled unsure whether to trust Oogway or not. He ran in after her and Oogway began to walk in himself.

Ethan walked up to the door before Oogway stopped him, "Not you," he said as he walked in and closed the door before locking it.

"What? I am the one who brought them here!" Ethan yelled as he waited for the door to open. It didn't however and he impatiently tapped his foot on the ground as people all around him stared at the door. "Guess I'll just wait outside," he groaned.

Inside Skye and Marshall gazed around the building with their mouths wide open. The whole interior was completely different. There were no comic books, rather it was a large circular room with several more doors leading to smaller rooms.

"Skye! Marshall!" a familiar voice called out from behind them. They turned to see a bulldog, who was previously sitting on the floor eating from a bucket.

"Rubble?" they both asked in shock.

"I was worried about you guys!" he said in excitement running up to them.

"How did you get here?" asked Marshall surprised to see yet another member of the Paw Patrol had ended up in the same place as him.

"I dunno. I just woke up in here and there was this friendly old turtle. He gave me food and everything!" Skye and Marshall both looked at each other with the same face.

"You just accepted food from a stranger?" They both asked as they turned to see Oogway walking up them, still holding the green ball.

Rubble ignored their concern for him and was more interested in what Oogway was holding, "What is that?" he asked all excited at what was happening.

"Hold on just a second. What is going on here?" Marshall asked as he started to become concerned at the situation. Everything was so confusing and happening so fast. He began to be overcome by his emotions.

"Threat not, Marshall. There is nothing here that will cause you any sort of harm," Oogway reassured. Marshall sighed, not fully convinced on being safe, but accepting it anyway as there wasn't necessarily any other choice.

"So, what is that thing you are holding?" asked Skye who couldn't take her eyes off of the object in Oogway's hand. There was something about it that caused anyone who looked at it to be intoxicated by it. It gave off some sort of energy that nothing else on earth did.

"This is one of the eight fragments of Shaggy," Oogway said admiring the fragment that he held in his grasp. It's light grew brighter before going dark again as if it was breathing in and out.

"Fragments… Of Shaggy?" Marshall asked who's confusion reached its limit.

"Indeed," Oogway said looking at the pups once more. He smiled at them which managed to calm Marshall down a little. Oogway gave off a presence that no other being they had met ever did. His voice was so calming and he moved with such tranquility that he seemed so pure. As if no evil dwelled inside of his soul.

"One of the eight fragments?" Rubble asked who, unlike Marshall, was excited and intrigued by everything that was happening.

"Shaggy created eight fragments so that the universe could fight back against his evil doppelgänger."

"Evil doppelganger?" Rubble asked not knowing the meaning of the world 'doppelganger'.

"Doppelganger. An alternate version of one form of life. The reason for why Shaggy created it, is complicated. Many people argue over the reason. Very few know the truth. Only those who were there to see it, can tell you what really happened."

"What do you mean? Do you know what really happened?"

"What really happened? I don't know. All that matters is Shaggy disappeared after creating the fragments. He made them so that once they are all brought back together, life could create something to finally rid the universe of this corrupted Shaggy. At least, that is the story that I know."

"What about these fragments?" Skye began to ask, "What does each of them do?"

Oogway waved his staff in the air once more. A bunch of different objects appeared in the air. They were transparent and each of them bared different features. There was a yellow one. It appeared to be a small stone that glowed in a similar way to the one Oogway was holding.

"What is that one?" Rubble asked seeing that it was the same color as his clothing and pup-tag.

"That one is the stone of power. It is believed to be the main component in the weapon to destroy Shaggy."

Skye took interest in a pink cube that reminded her of her pup-tag and suit. "Which one is that?" she asked pointing up at it.

"That one is the cube of love."

Marshall laughed, "The cube of love? I thought you said these are supposed to be able to go up against Shaggy and form a super weapon."

"Indeed they are. Imagine having the ability to make anyone love you without any question. It isn't just love. They will obey every single on your commands. Even if you told them to die."

Marshall's face became completely serious. He decided not to question what Oogway said anymore. Even if the fragment of love wasn't a very fitting name for it. He was interested in one of the fragments himself. A red one that appeared to be a flame, "What is that one?"

"That one is the flame of the underworld. It resides in a place that no soul has ever escaped. The entrance to it can only be created by few living beings. It is one of the reasons that many gave up on ever being able to stop Shaggy. Some say that the entrance to it can never be crafted again." Oogway stared down at the floor for a second before looking up again.

"I'm getting confused." Rubble said. "How exactly do any of these relate to each other?"

"Shaggy works in mysterious ways."

"Wait hold on." Marshall said upon realizing something, "Is Shaggy trying to get these fragments to?"

"I dunno." Oogway said.

"What do you-" There was a loud banging on the door that caused everyone to face the door.

"Who is that?" Rubble asked cowering down.

* * *

A few minutes earlier

"Yea sure just block out the guy who brought them here," Ethan said to himself sitting next to the locked door, his head resting on his hand while he tapped his fingers on his chin impatiently. He sighed and continued to wait for the pups to exit the building. "I mean it's not like I wanted to see what was in there, and it's not like it's raining harder than ever," he muttered as he sighed once more.

He stood up and stretched in boredom. There were now police surrounding the large crater in the middle of the road, along with people talking to them and pointing over at where the comic book store once was. In curiosity Ethan decided to see if there was anything left inside of the massive hole.

He walked over to it and bent over to look down inside. There were a few cars that fell victim to the fragment's large energy dispersion and became trapped within the wound on the earth. Nothing of interest was inside though and Ethan sighed again, trying to find something to do.

A single person standing in front of the locked door caught his eye. He wasn't there before and the man was dressed in a strange way. The clothing that he was wearing wasn't appropriate for the current weather, though neither was Ethan's, but he didn't even seem to take notice to the downpour that was occurring.

"Excuse me!" Ethan yelled getting the man's attention.

The man turned to face him, "Hello," he said in a low voice.

"Are you trying to get in there?" Ethan asked hoping to spark a conversation with someone to appease his boredom and take his mind off the of the rain.

"Yes," the man replied not saying anything more.

"While I have been trying to for a few minutes now. I don't think they are letting anyone in."

"They?" the man asked as he raised his raised his left hand to knock on the door before stopping.

"Yea. You probably won't believe this." Ethan moved his head towards the man ear and whispered, "Two pups and a turtle." The man instantly put his hand back down to his side and took a few steps back from the door. "Did I say something?" Ethan said confused on why his words startled the man.

Two police officers walked up to them before anything else could happen, "Excuse me, but we are currently searching for a green object and apparently it is inside that building right behind you," one of them said.

Ethan put his hands in the air while the other man just stood there staring blankly into the officers eyes. "You don't need to do that sir," said the other one, "Just step aside and let us take a look." Ethan obeyed and moved out-of-the-way while the other man stayed put.

"Sir, please step aside." The man listened to them and moved out-of-the-way, a smile forming on his face.

The police banged on the door as loud as they could. There was no reply. They tried to forcibly open the door but they couldn't even get it to budge. It was like the door was a brick wall.

"Let me try," said the strange man as he walked back in front of the door.

"Sir please-" The man swung his arm at the officers and they both were sent flying back onto the street landing on top of a car. Several people could be heard gasping and some even screamed in shock as they two officers got back up and rubbed their backs.

"Holy shit!" Ethan yelled as he fell backwards and covered himself. The police ran back up to him along with several more officers assisting them. Ethan ducked as the man swung his arm again, this time a blue aura came out of sending everyone and everything on the street flying back into the sides of buildings.

Everyone stayed down as the man walked up to the door again. He banged on it as he hard as he could. The noise it made was so incredibly loud that everyone had to cover their ears. The door opened and there stood Oogway, Marshall, Skye and Rubble who all looked concerned. "Yes?" Oogway asked calmly before seeing the ruins of the street and the strange man standing in front of the door.

"That isn't a normal guy!" Ethan shouted who was still cowering on the ground. Shaggy kicked him across the sidewalk. He landed a few feet away and groaned as he hit the cold hard ground. All of the pups hid behind Oogway as they saw who it was. Shaggy was there smiling as he recognized the three pups.

"Not a very nice way to introduce yourself," Oogway said still sounding calmer than ever as if he had just went to a spa. He put his hand to cover the three petrified pups.

"The fragment. Give it to me now," Shaggy demanded putting his hand up expecting Oogway to be just as scared as the pups.

"No," Oogway refused.

Shaggy laughed and pulled his hand while it formed a fist. He leaned into a punch before sending his fist forward with all of his might. Oogway raised his hand and caught Shaggy's punch with ease. A burst of energy shot in every direction from the impact of the punch. Ethan and the three pups gasped at what just happened.

"What?" Shaggy said in surprise as he looked down at his hand that was stopped dead in its tracks.

Oogway smiled before saying, "You must earn it from me." He closed his hand around Shaggy's and raised his staff in the air. With one swift move he jabbed the staff into Shaggy's chest sending him flying through the air.

"Oh my god!" Ethan yelled as he watched Shaggy flying through the air before hitting the side of the car denting it. Shaggy jumped back into the air and closed his fist once more. It began to glow with the same blue aura as before. Oogway jumped into the air as well as swinging his staff in a circle. The noise that it made was a sound that Ethan and the pups had never heard before. It sounded so mystical and mysterious.

Oogway dogged Shaggy's incoming attack and hit his side with the tip of his staff. A burst of light shot out from it and Shaggy was sent flying down the street. He hit the ground once more leaving another crater in the road. He struggled to get back on his feet. Just before he could Oogway's staff hit him on the back causing him to fly down into the earth.

"What the hell is that thing he is holding?" Ethan asked as he ran up to the three pups who watched the fight not knowing what was going on.

"I have no idea," Marshall said.

"This is awesome," Rubble said as he sat down to watch the fight continue. Skye and Marshall followed him while Ethan just stared at the ongoing battle.

"I thought you were stronger," Oogway said as he leaned on his staff while Shaggy climbed out of the hole.

Shaggy laughed trying to act as if nothing was wrong, "If you were fighting the others, you would be beaten in an instant," Shaggy muttered wiping the dust and debris off of his shoulders.

"Good thing I am not," Oogway said reading himself for Shaggy's next move. Shaggy yelled in anger and jumped at Oogway once more. Oogway stepped out-of-the-way and he crashed into a nearby car. "Anger will get you nowhere," Oogway said taking a deep breath.

Shaggy ignored him and tried to punch him again. He was tired and out of energy. Oogway had drained him of all his strength with just a few hits. Shaggy had never seen anything like it before. "Who are you?" Shaggy asked.

"Just a normal turtle," Oogway joked walking over to Shaggy who was now kneeling down on the middle of the road. Shaggy tried to attack once more but failed. He fell onto the ground coughing and struggling to keep his footing.

"He won't stop. He will kill you and everyone in this worthless universe. Every single living creature will perish."

"Well to bad you couldn't have done the job sooner," Oogway said. Shaggy took one final swing but Oogway grabbed his fist once more. With one final swing of his staff straight through Shaggy's body, there was a massive burst of light as loud explosion could be heard.

"What?" Marshall said in disbelief as he ran up to where Oogway. Ethan and the other pups followed him. Shaggy had disappeared completely. There wasn't a trace of him. His clothes were gone and all that was left was the white dust of whatever Oogway's staff did to him.

"Is that it?" Skye said who was both relieved but also shocked at seeing the remains of the person who managed to take down the Paw Patrol with ease.

"No." Oogway said looking down at the pile of dust and smiling, "He will be back. But at least you won't have to worry about him."

"Huh?" Marshall said in confusion. Oogway didn't answer. Instead he waved his wand around some more and a portal opened up underneath the pups and Ethan. They all screamed as they fell in before hitting soft grass with a slight thud. Oogway jumped in with them and the portal closed leaving the people who just witnessed what happened to ponder what they just saw.

"What is happening?" Marshall asked in complete bewilderment. Had the man who he feared could be capable of destroying entire planets and potentially the universe really just been killed by a talking turtle with a magic wooden staff? He didn't know what to think anymore.

It was no longer raining where they were. The city that once towered over them was gone. Now all that surrounded them was grass and bright green mountains on either side of them. In front of them was the calming blue ocean. There was a small dock that rested on top of it with a boat tied to its side. The ocean sent soothing waves and the forest behind him was filled with songs of birds and the sounds of life.

"Where are we?" Ethan asked who looked the most confused out of everyone having just had his entire view of life changed.

"You must hurry," Oogway said signaling for all of them to come with him. He walked up onto the dock and pointing at the boat. "Take the boat and continue to head straight. You will eventually reach your destination."

"Adventure Bay?" Rubble asked who was taking in his surroundings.

"You will see." Oogway said.

"No this is not a 'you will see type of' situation. If you can make magic portals with your wand why don't you just take us straight to our destination?" Skye asked who, just like Marshall, was tired of all the nonsense that was going on.

"You will see," Oogway said once more with another smile. Before anyone could say anything else he waved his wand above his head and disappeared into nothingness.

Everyone froze and looked at each other, "Wait… Why did he take me?" Ethan asked.

"I… I uh… Well us pups can't drive those kind of boats." Marshall said having no idea what else to do besides follow Oogway's instructions.

"Well I guess I can just forget my entire life and take you pups on a boat ride. That sounds fair. Oh boy am I excited," he said to himself hopping into the boat, "How did he even know I knew how to drive this thing? Guess he just knows everything!" he said perkily.

The pups jumped into the boat with him having no other ideas on where to go. Ethan started the boat and removed the rope. It instantly took off into the ocean and the three pups lied down, trying to take their minds of where their life currently was, or where it was headed.


	5. The Shrine of the Lorax Sword

Chase walked out of the cave and into the open air. He was standing on the top of a tall mountain that towered over a small bushy forest and a beach. It wasn't until he saw the endless ocean that he realized he was on some uncharted island in the middle of nowhere. Shrek stepped out of the cave a few moments later.

"So where did you say this sword was?" Chase asked stretching his back into the air.

"It is a bit complicated," Shrek replied staring down at a map in his hands, brushing off dust with his hand.

"What do you mean by that?"

"There are currently three other islands that neighbour this one. The blade switches between these islands at different times," Shrek stated running his finger along the crumpled paper.

A slight wind was beginning to pick up. The moon illuminated the darkness of the night as it glowed in the night sky. Trees could be seen rustling down below the mountain.

"This is quite the view you have up here," Chase said admiring the view. He sat down and took in the incredible site. It was a site that he had never seen in his life living most of it so far at Adventure Bay.

"It's nothing compared to some of the landscapes I have seen," Shrek admitted stuffing the map into his shirt. "Anyway we the chamber that holds the sword is just down there," he said pointing Chase at a small circular area surrounded by trees and the rest of the forest.

"That doesn't seem too difficult," Chase observed seeing no obstacles in the way.

"Well we shall see about that. I don't expect the place to just be accessible to anyone strolling by. As long as we stay on the path and keep our focus, I am sure we will be fine." Shrek began to head down a steep pathway that lead down to the bottom of the mountain. He signaled for Chase to follow him as the German shepherd got onto his feet and ran up to the side of the Ogre.

The pathway lead down to the entrance of the forest where the sounds of nature grew evermore louder as they got closer. "Ignore the sounds, they are just recordings," Shrek said seeing Chase's worried face at what might be within.

"Why?" Chase asked not understanding what purpose it would serve to have recordings of wildlife on an uninhabited island.

"Don't ask me. It took me a little while to find out."

"Hold on, are you stranded on here?" Chase asked as his mind went back to being stuck on an island without ever knowing what happened to his friends.

"No. I have a boat that we will take once we obtain the sword. It's just I never left to civilization for, well I think you can understand how people would react seeing me in a human city." Chase became a little more relieved. He still wanted to know what happened to the rest of the Paw Patrol, but now he knew that he would have a way back to Adventure Bay.

The two walked into the forest. It was bushy and difficult to navigate without the help of Shrek guiding Chase through a nearly impossible to see pathway. The moonlight barely managed to shine through the large and thick trees. Eventually the plants became less thick and the pathway began to become more and more clear before they reached a large green hill.

"Here we are," Shrek said as a smile came to his face, "Just up this hill is where we should find what we are looking for. Still, be on the alert."

Chase kept silent as they wandered up the grassy hill. They reached the top after just a few seconds of climbing where they saw a large circular stone with strange symbols etched into it.

"What is this?" Chase asked hesitant to continue down the hill.

"This is the entrance, I presume," Shrek answered as he pulled out his map again to check it. After a couple of seconds he put it back into his shirt, "Be careful now." He said as he walked down the hill and onto the stone. He placed his large green hand on it and ran it across the smooth rock. He tapped it a few times as if to check if it was hollow.

The slight wind was becoming more and more fierce as the leaves on the surroundings trees began to fly off. Some branches joined them and fell onto the ground below.

"I hope you find the entrance or whatever to this thing soon," Chase said trying to keep himself from seeming afraid.

"This is quite a storm that seems to be coming," Shrek said as he too began to grow worried that this could be more than just a typical storm. His movements became faster as tapped the stone in several different locations. He hit a certain spot and stopped before doing it again. The sound produced wasn't like what was heard at different locations.

"Did you find it?" Chase asked walking over to him seeing that Shrek had stopped doing what he was doing.

"I think so," Shrek said becoming excited at the discovery. He pulled out a strange object that he kept tucked away in his shirt. It looked as if it was very old and it was in the shape of a disk. The Ogre placed it down on the spot that he had tapped and it instantly began to spin around.

"What is that thing and what is it doing?" Chase asked as his eyes followed the rotating disk.

"Something that I have had for a long time. Luckily I kept it huh? It opens things," Shrek replied as he waited in anticipation for the entrance to be revealed. The was hollowing above them. The trees were bending over and Chase thought that he would have been blown away if wasn't for the hills blocking the ferocious wind.

There was a click and the disk stopped spinning. Shrek removed it from the ground and the ground began to move. The stone floor that they were standing on started spinning around and a small hole opened up where the disk once sat.

"There it is," Shrek said as he put the disk back in his shirt. Chase poked his head down the hole. Inside was a much larger room with torches around the walls. The same symbols that were seen on the stone they were standing on were etched into the walls all around. It wasn't deep at all and Chase was able to hop in without any trouble.

Shrek barely fit through the hole as he landed on the floor below with a thump. The roof closed in above them and everything went silent. They could no longer hear the wind and they each took a brief second to look around them. There was a large stone door shut tight and seemingly no way of opening it. Chase noticed it and instantly became intrigued, "That seems promising. Put your disk on that!" he said running over to it.

"It needs a little while to recharge," Shrek said trying to find some sort of trigger.

"Seriously?" Chase said disappointed as his excitement levels came down.

"Until then help me find some sort of mechanism that opens this," Shrek said patting the cold walls and taking a particular interest in the torches that surrounded them. Not every single one of them was ignited and each of them were attached to the wall by a hook and could each be removed. "I think I have an idea," he said taking one of the lit ones of the wall.

"What?" Chase asked turning over to look at Shrek. He watched as the Ogre walked over to one of the unlit ones and putting the flame over it. Instantly it ignited and the other torch went out.

"Nevermind," Shrek said as his face turned to a frown.

"Maybe there is a certain order we need them to be lit in?" Chase guessed as he rubbed his paw along one of the symbols on the wall.

"The symbols… Maybe we should ignite them based on the symbols," Shrek said as he observed one of them from top to bottom.

"That might take a while," Chase said as he counted how many torches there were.

"I better start guessing then."

* * *

_Back above ground_

The wind was blowing harder than ever. Leaves and branches were flying through the air at increasingly rapid speeds. Rocky and Zuma were struggling to stay on their feet as they stumbled around trying to find shelter.

"I don't think this is the wight way!" Shouted Zuma trying to be heard over the screeching wind.

"We can't stop here!" Rocky shouted as he looked around trying to figure out where they were heading. Everything looked the same from left to right and front to back. They were still in the same forest and trapped within. All there was to follow was a slight clearing just up ahead of them.

Rocky nudged Zuma to keep moving. The Chocolate lab pushed against the wind with Rocky trying to keep him on his feet ignoring his own struggle to stay a foot. The wind was not showing any signs of stopping. A low screeching sound could be heard as they walked out of the forest and felt the full force of the storm.

"Zuma we should go back into the forest we have more cover there!" Rocky shouted as he tried to pull Zuma back the way they came.

"Wait!' Zuma yelled as he fixed his eyes on something in the distance, "Do you see that?" he said as Rocky turned to face the object Zuma refused to break eye contact from. A small wooden cabin stood next to a dock with a small boat tightly tied to its side. It sat next to the ocean where waves were violently crashing onto the small sandy beach.

"Come on Zuma we got hurry over there before this wind gets anyway worse!" Rocky yelled wasting no time for the opportunity to get shelter. They both rushed over nearly swept away by the storm. They climbed up the creaky wooden steps of the old wooden cabin. The screeching sound was getting louder and louder to the point where it sounded like something was crashing down from the sky at an alarming rate.

"Do you hear that?" asked a worried Zuma who was cowering down in fear.

"Just ignore it." Rocky jumped up and grabbed the door knob with his paws turning it and pushing the door open. He jumped inside with Zuma following him closely behind. He slammed the door shut, the wind still howling outside. The screeching sound was showing no signs of stopping. It pierced through the two pups ears.

"What is that?" Zuma cried as he laid on the floor covering his head with paws. The ground began to shake below them; Rocky jumped on top of Zuma covering him and trying to comfort the shaking pup below him. Just as they thought that the entire cabin would crash on top of them, the world went silent. Everything that was happening stopped. The wind, the screeching and the violent shaking ceased all at once.

"Is it over?" Zuma asked who had his eyes shut as Rocky stood back up and looked outside through a window. The cabin they were in was dark and bleak. It was completely empty of anything that someone would typically keep in a place they lived. The only light source was from the moon sending silver rays of light through the window.

"I think so," Rocky said as he put his two front paws on the window sill and peered outside. The storm that once caused them to cower in fear had come to a halt. A low rumbling sound could be heard coming from the ocean. It sounded like some sort of engine that Rocky picked up on immediately. He turned and faced the endless ocean and saw a small light growing larger as it came closer to them.

"There is a boat!" Rocky said excited that rescue could be closer than they ever thought. A realization hit him as it came closer. How could anyone have been out on the ocean in the conditions that were happening mere seconds ago?

"Does that mean we get to go home?" asked Zuma who was no longer hiding his head on the murky floor but rather standing up straight with his tail wagging on the thought of returning to Adventure Bay.

"Wait," Rocky said lifting his paw to silence Zuma. He squinted his eyes trying to see who or perhaps what was driving the small boat inching towards them. It took a few more seconds before Rocky could make out any life forms present. The instant he saw green V-neck shirt and brown pants he leapt off the window and turned to Zuma.

"What did you see?" Zuma asked as Rocky processed his thought for a moment. Not saying anything Rocky ushered Zuma to hide in the other room that sat across from them. They both ran inside through the open door and hid under an empty table.

"Shaggy," Rocky finally said catching his breath. Zuma's eyes widened the second he heard the name.

"Shaggy? What is he doing here?" Before Rocky could respond the previously quiet rumbling sound reached its peak before coming to a full stop. The engine to the boat outside turned off and who they believed to be Shaggy stepped onto the dock. For a couple of seconds the outside was completely silent before footsteps could be heard walking past the window which Rocky, moments ago, was gazing out of.

"Don't move," Rocky said to Zuma who was cowering down in fear once more. They both stayed absolutely silent, not moving a muscle in their body as the footsteps grew louder and stopped at the door to the cabin. Zuma whimpered and Rocky put his paw over the Chocolate lab's mouth while holding his own breath. After what felt like an entirety the footsteps began to move away from the door and down the steps to the cabin. They wandered off into the distance and disappeared into the forest completely.

The two pups gasped and took a much-needed deep breath regaining their senses. Not a word was spoken between the two until they walked out into the other room to make sure they were safe. Rocky looked out the window once more to see if the cost was clear. In front of the boat that sat before they entered the house was a new one. Much smaller and built-in the strangest way Rocky had ever seen.

"Why is Shaggy here?" Asked Zuma who walked next to Rocky who looked just as bewildered as him.

"I have no idea," Rocky admitted who seemed concerned at what Shaggy could possibly want from an island like the one they were stranded on, "But I also think we should ask where he is going."

* * *

_A few moments earlier, in the Lorax shrine_

The wind outside of the little room Chase and Shrek were in grew ever more vicious. Branches could be heard hitting the stone roof that stood above them. Shrek was still testing out various combinations of ignited torches trying to find a way to proceed to the next room. Chase was rubbing his paw on the cold hard ground lost in his thoughts. He still wanted to believe that nothing that was happening was real. That he would wake up and have an interesting dream to tell his friends, but he knew that he had to take the situation seriously.

"Do you have any ideas?" Shrek asked the German shepherd as placed a torch back on the wall and sighing, taking a seat so that he could think for a moment and rest.

"Nope," Chase replied as turned his attention back to the current problem that faced him. The storm that raged outside made him unable to focus on anything else. It sounded like it was growing faster than ever. "Do you hear that?" Chased asked as he caught onto a low screeching sound that had just started to pick up.

"Yes," Shrek said as he stared up at the ceiling. It took him a moment to realize what he was seeing. The once solid and unchanging stone roof that stood above them was shifting around. Tons of strange and unidentifiable symbols were rotating around each other and stopping once in certain positions.

"Whoa," Chase said in utter astonishment. His eyes became fixed on the etchings that spun around his head. The roof continued to shift around before stopping completely. The ear-piercing screech outside grew faster now. It grew to the point where Chase and Shrek had to cover their ears to conceal them from the fury of the outside. The entire room began to shake violently; Chase thought that the entire roof would collapse on them and leave their bodies trapped forever.

Suddenly, the entire earth went silent. Everything stopped, the wind, the noise and the shaking. Chase opened his eyes and looked up, breathing quickly and contemplating what he had just experienced, "Did it just stop?" he asked as he stood up and looked over at Shrek who also was pondering the situation.

"I think so," Shrek replied. The door that was forced shut and un-openable began to rumble as it cracked open. Bits of rock flew out before the entirety of it blew open leaving behind pieces of a once indestructible barricade.

"We got the order?" Chase asked a smile came to his face and his tail began to wag. Shrek was frozen for a moment before he shook his head and looked around. The torches had all gone out, the room only illuminated by the undiscovered secrets of the newly opened door.

"I guess we did," Shrek said as he and Chase walked towards the newly formed hole in the wall. They stepped into a cubical bright room with a large orange object in the middle. It appeared to be a large orange sword with a small orange ball glowing in the middle of it.

"Is that the Lorax sword?" Chase asked mesmerized upon viewing it. The small ball in the middle give off a strange energy that was oddly soothing and caused Chase's spirits to be lifted.

"It must be," Shrek said as he walked up to it. He raised his hand in the air and paused as he stared down at the ancient blade before him. "Let's hope this isn't one of those things where you need to be worthy," Shrek chuckled, though a feeling deep down inside him of him worried that it might be true. After he hesitated he closed his hand around the handle of the blade. Instantly he felt resistance as he pulled with all of his might,

"Are you alright?" Chase asked concerned at how much Shrek was struggling to lift the sword.

"I got it!" Shrek said as he grabbed the top of the handle with his other hand and bent down. He gave it his all the sword was lifted into the air. Shrek gasped and left a massive breath as he fell onto this knees, admiring the freed blade that he wielded. There was a large and bushy mustache across the handle. A smile came across his face alongside Chase. They both looked at each other with the same joyful expression.

"You got it!" Chase said as walked around Shrek admiring the sword from every angle, "Look at that," he said staring into the orange orb that was now glowing brighter than ever. A knock from the other room caused both of them to snap out of their gaze. The knock was followed by several more knocks that each happened in different positions.

"Come pup," Shrek said quietly as he and Chase snuck out of the shrine and back into the now darkened circular room. The knocks continued above them. Some of them filled with more force than others. Eventually the knocking ceased and all that was heard was the footsteps of something that lurked above them

"Who is that?" Chase asked trying to stay as quiet as possible. Shrek put a hand above Chase to signal that he should stay quiet. The footsteps walked over to where the two had entered the shrine from. They stayed silent as no more footsteps were heard above them. A voice spoke loudly above them as it if was yelling to something far away. It was unclear what it was saying but Chase recognized it immediately.

"Shaggy…" He whispered staring down of the floor remembering what the man had done to him and his friends. Anger, fear, confusion and many more emotions flooded his mind. A part of him wanted to open the hatch and attack with their newly found weapon, while another wanted to wait for him to leave and get back to Adventure Bay.

"That is him?" Shrek said as he clenched his fist tightly around the blade, "We need to do something, we have the blade let's go," he said forgetting to keep quiet as his anger overcame his senses.

"No!" Chase shouted jumping onto Shrek stopping him in his tracks. The two of them both realized just how much noise they had made. The talking outside stopped for a moment before starting again. They heard something walk away before the footsteps that were directly above them began walking around again.

"We need to get out of here," Shrek said as he tried to control his anger and rage. He took note of a few dark spots in the room. Without the light of the torches some parts were dark enough for the both of them to hide, "I have an idea." Shrek took out his door opening device and threw it onto the hatch where they had entered.

"What are you doing?" Chase asked as Shrek grabbed him and ran over to the darkest spot that he could find. The Lorax sword seemed to be aware of the situation and the once glowing ball in the middle dimmed. The device took a few seconds to work, but it started to rotate around once more before the hatch swung open.

Instantly, the same man who Chase saw at Adventure Bay jumped down into the room with blue glowing eyes. The eyes stared right at the two before turning to face the light flooding in from the other room. Shaggy walked over to it and disappeared into it. Shrek immediately ran towards the exit with Chase still held firmly in his hand, the sword in the other.

"Can you get that?" Shrek said pointing the tip of the blade at the device on the ground. Chase grabbed it with his teeth as Shrek leapt out of the shrine and back into the outside world. Branches and leaves scattered across the place. Trees had fallen over and the once shining moon had seemed to dim in the short time they were inside.

Shaggy jumped out of the shrine closely behind them. His eyes glowing brighter than anything Chase had ever seen. It sent shivers down his spine as they pierced his soul and caused him to almost drop the machine he held within his mouth. A menacing smile came across Shaggy's face. Instead of chasing the two, he raised both of his hands into the air. He began to float up into the sky as the shrine shook below him. After a few moments it burst out of the ground leaving a massive hole in the earth.

"Hold on pup!" Shrek said as he ran up the hill and into the forest which now consisted of fallen trees. Shaggy put his hands out in front of him. The unearthed shrine flew forwards towards Chase and Shrek. Shrek turned around and held up the sword in front of him as the rock hit them with incredible force.

"Are we dead?" Chase said as he held his eyes shut. There was a rock wall in front of them that hadn't stood there before. Shrek looked at the blade and the back up at the wall piecing together what had just happened. Before he could say anything the rock wall burst open. Shaggy leapt through it and onto Shrek causing him to drop Chase and the blade.

Shaggy turned to the blade and ran up to it. Shrek tackled him to the ground and grabbed the blade once more. Shaggy leapt up into the air and tried to punch Shrek into the ground. Shrek swung the sword in the air piercing through Shaggy's shirt and flesh causing him to fall back onto the ground in pain.

Wasting no time Shrek tried to pierce through Shaggy's body with the sword. Shaggy rolled away dodging the incoming attack. His arm and hand glowed with a blue aura as several trees lifted into the air. "Run Chase!" Shrek yelled, "Keep heading straight and you will reach the boat get it ready! If I don't make it leave without me!"

"I-"

"Don't question it just go!" Shrek yelled as Shaggy sent the trees flying towards the Ogre and the German shepherd. Shrek braced himself for impact, but no trees hit him. Instead, the blade shined brightly as rocks emerged from the earth below them and caught the trees in the air. Shaggy frowned and flew down to Shrek once more. The blade glowed once more and several vines came out from it, catching Shaggy in the air.

"What?" Shaggy yelled angrily as he was forced onto the ground. Trees burst out of the ground around him trapping him in a small circle were his shouts of anger ceased. Shrek, astonished at what he had just witnessed, took the chance to run. He ran through the ruins of the forest and leapt over several bushes and fallen trees.

After a minute of running he caught up to Chase who he immediately picked up and continued to run to his boat. Eventually they reached a small cabin on the side of a beach where two boats sat next to a small dock. To their surprise, the boat started up and began to leave them behind. Shrek picked up the pace and leapt into the boat, still clutching the blade and the pup in his arms.

The two of them landed in the boat with a loud thud and were greeted by two other pups. The pups took a few steps back in shock and Chase was instantly filled with joy at who he saw. Rocky and Zuma stood there with surprised expressions on their faces. "Chase?" They asked as the most joyous of smiles came to their faces.

"Rocky? Zuma?" Chase said as the three pups tails began wagging uncontrollably. Zuma jumped onto Chase licking him while Chase instantly began laughing with excitement. Rocky walked up to their side as Zuma stepped off the German shepherd letting him breath.

"Sure just ignore me," Shrek said as he stood up and rubbed his back. Zuma and Rocky instantly looked up him and took a few steps back. "Don't worry, I am friendly," Shrek said as he laughed seeing the two pups faces.

"This is Shrek, he is my friend," Chase said getting back onto his feet and stretching his back into the air. Rocky and Zuma's eyes were opened wide and their jaws stretched farther open than Chase knew possible.

"Hi..." Rocky said inspecting the Ogre from top to bottom.

"I'm an ogre," Shrek admitted as he put the Lorax sword down onto the floor. The boat that the four stood on continued off into the ocean. The island that the three pups were previously stranded on was growing evermore smaller in the distance.

"What is that?" Zuma asked as his attention moved away from Shrek and onto the orange sword that sat on the floor, glowing a bright orange that mesmerized Zuma.

"The Lorax sword. That orange ball in it must be the fragment of life," Shrek said as he noticed the small orb that seemingly powered the sword. "Though I must admit that it did more than I thought it would," He said as he remembered the trees and rocks that seemingly came from the blade.

"Well maybe it is more than the fragment of life," Chase said walking up to it and running his paw down the long orange blade. The fragment in the middle of it was so soothing that it took away every worry in the world upon viewing it.

"I guess we can find out what it does," Shrek said as he picked it back up and held in the air proudly.

"I think I would wather sleep," Zuma said as he yawned, finally in a place where he felt comfortable. He laid down on the floor and closed his eyes drifting off into slumber almost immediately.

"Honestly, I am pretty tired to," Rocky said as he laid down next to the Chocolate lab.

Chase smiled and yawned as well, "Shaggy is dealt with for now right?" He asked looking up at Shrek who had brought the blade back down to his side.

"I will stay up and make sure we head the right way, and make sure Shaggy does not interrupt us. Adventure Bay right?" Shrek asked as he placed the blade back down on the boat deciding to save it for a later time.

"That is the place," Chase said as he laid down and put his head down on his paws. He closed his eyes, finally able to rest knowing that at least he wasn't the only who survived being thrown across the earth. He still worried about the others and what had happened to Ryder, but at least he knew that he would be home soon. With one final yawn he too drifted off into sleep.

Rocky was the last to fall asleep, he closed his eyes and took a final breath of relief feeling comfortable once more.

Shrek looked down at the three sleeping pups and smiled. He pushed a few buttons on a control panel before taking control of the wheel and turning the ship. It felt great for him to be able to be free once more. The island along with the worries disappeared from sight. Another island appeared out of nowhere, which Shrek knew and already prepared for. He turned away from it knowing that he was now going the right way, relaxed a little and sat down to clear his thoughts. He too fell victim to sleep and dazed off into nothingness.


	6. The Abandoned Mineshaft

Steve lit a torch from that he took from the cold cobblestone wall, "This way," he said to Ryder was following him from behind as they walked down the long hallway that lead to the strange portal Ryder encountered earlier.

"Where are we going exactly?" Ryder asked as Steve walked up to a lever on the wall. It appeared old as it if it hadn't been touched in years.

"We are going down to the mineshaft," Steve said as he pulled the lever. A hole in the wall opened up revealing a long, dark cave with torches along the walls lighting up the otherwise pitch black darkness.

"Whoa…" Ryder muttered in astonishment. He was absolutely fascinated by the machinery that operated the hidden chamber. It was something that he had never seen before and a part of him wanted to learn the details of how the hidden door operated.

"Pretty impressive huh? There is a lot more amazing things that you have yet to see," said Steve as he walked into the long corridor and began to walk down into the unknown. Ryder nodded and followed him unsure of what laid beyond. His head was still clouded on the thoughts of his pups but he tried not to dwell on it. The two of them continued to walk down the long, damp cave. Ryder had no idea how the torches managed to stay lit all of this time, unless Steve regularly kept them ablaze. The torches seemed to be static and the flame never even moved as the two moved past them. Ryder was beginning to wonder if they would ever reach the end. Eventually, a light appeared at the end of the cave. As they got closer it grew bigger and bigger before it opened up into a large ravine. Tons of different ores glistened from what appeared to be lava sending rays of light in all directions. Two long and narrow tracks towered above the incredible site. They stretched father than the eye could see and disappeared into the distance. Two minecarts sat on top of them waiting for something to move them from the resting place.

"This is… Something," Ryder said as he looked around with his eyes wide and walked over to the edge of the ravine. He looked down just to see how far down it would go. If it wasn't for the lava pouring out of the walls from seemingly nothing and brightening the abyss he wouldn't be able to see the bottom.

"We won't be here for long. All we need to do is get enough diamonds for you to have your own sword," Steve said as he pulled one of the minecarts back to the start of the tracks.

"How are we gonna get these things moving?" Ryder asked he grabbed the other minecart and brought it towards him. Steve just smiled as he walked back towards the exit of the ravine. There was another switch on the wall that he pulled down causing the rails to light up in a dark red color.

"Redstone," Steve said as he walked back over to the minecart. Without any hesitation he hopped into the minecart and turned back towards Ryder, "Are you getting in yours?"

"This doesn't seem very safe," Ryder noted. On the railway there was nothing to prevent them from falling down to a likely death.

"Trust me you will be fine," Steve said. Before Ryder could say anything else Steve pushed away from him. Instantly the minecart that he was situated in took off down the mine track and out of site within a matter of seconds. Ryder, unsure whether he should just leave or follow him, decided that he might as well follow Steve. After all, he believed that he had nothing left to lose.

"Oh boy," Ryder said as he took a deep breath and stepped into his minecart. He paused and contemplated what he was about to do. Steve seemed to be utmost certain that nothing bad would happen and that it was completely safe. Ryder still debated with himself on whether he should trust Steve or not. After a brief moment of conflict within himself he pushed himself further onto the track.

The second that the wheels on the minecart hit the redstone track it zoomed down the railway at incredibly high speeds. Ryder held onto the sides tightly as he was on the verge of being thrown out of the minecart. It didn't slow down for one second and Ryder held his breath trying not to faint. He was zooming past hundreds of different ores and strange creatures that he had never seen before. He was going to fast to make anything out and all he could see were the faint colors of the unidentified creatures as they stared at him. After getting used to the high speeds and dizzying visuals, he actually started to enjoy it. There was some strange feeling that caused him to be filled with excitement. It almost felt like a rollercoaster ride, without any of the safety precautions yet it still somehow didn't fall apart. Ryder couldn't help but let out a laugh at what was currently happening. All of his anxiety and fears were gone and all that was left was joy and excitement. He wanted to throw his hands up in the air and feel free but decided it wasn't a rather smart idea. The minecart suddenly began to slow down and another empty minecart came into view. Ryder stopped next to it and after a moment of puzzlement stepped onto the cold stone floor.

"Steve?" He asked not seeing the blocky man anywhere. It was eerily silent around him. The sound of water droplets hitting the ground below could be heard. A chill was sent down his spine as he wandered forward into a dark cave that had no sources of light. He stopped where the light from the now fading redstone railway ended. Eventually everything around him became dark. He was just barely able to see in front of him. There was a noise far deeper in the cave. The sound of something falling to the floor caused him to jump and become aware of his surroundings. He spun around to make sure that there was nothing that could harm him. He heard footsteps slowly walking away from him in the distance. He followed them cautiously trying to make as little noise as possible. There were now footsteps all around him. The cave wasn't like the one used to enter the ravine. It had large wooden pillars on each side and mine tracks beneath him. Some were broken while others were completely missing. On either side were pathways that lead down interconnecting cave systems that Ryder did not dare to explore. Some of them went down deeper than the ravine.

"Ryder?" a voice echoed from deep within the cave. Ryder recognized it and he started to sprint down the cave without thinking. All he wanted now was to have someone to stay beside. He always had his pup there for him. When he was feeling down, or when his mind filled with the worries of tomorrow, they would be there to comfort him. For as fearless as the pups always saw him, it was always the determination to keep them safe that kept him from acting afraid. Things were different now. He believed that he failed to do the one thing he promised to himself. To keep them safe and from all harm. To make sure that no matter what he would do anything to ensure they continued on their days as happy as possible. Now he was alone.

"Steve!" he shouted as his eyes began to water. He leaped over the remains of a once functioning railway, nearly tripping over it and hitting the ground. There was something following him now, it moved faster than him and the distance between the two were closing. He turned back for a second and slammed into something with full force. He turned to face Steve who had a concerned expression on his face.

"What is wrong Ryder?" Steve asked as Ryder turned around to see nothing behind him. It was as if he was running from nothing and the footsteps were only created in his brain due to the lack of understanding of what lied in the darkness. Steve was holding a torch that brought light into the darkness.

"Why did you leave me alone?" Ryder asked as a few tears came streaming down his face. He hadn't been alone in the longest time and forgot just how hopeless he had felt before he had his pups.

"I ran into a problem and took longer than expected…" Steve noticed just how distraught Ryder was sitting in front of him, "What is wrong?" he asked sincerely as he kneeled down to comfort him.

"My pups… My life and everything could be gone forever." Ryder confessed as he stared blankly into the ground. Steve put his hand on Ryder's shoulder, causing him to look up at him. Ryder's watery eyes reflected the bright orange light emanating from the torch.

"Ryder, I am sure that they are fine. Listen, I shouldn't have brought you down here in the first place. I should have just gone down and have you wait for me. Come on now let's go and I will send you home. Your pups are fine, trust me," Steve said offering a hand to help Ryder up. Ryder swallowed up his worries and grabbed the hand that would help him up. He knew that for as long as he didn't take action he would never get back to his home and pups.

"Can we go then?" he asked as he stood up straight and tried to find the confidence within himself to keep going.

"Yep. I got what we came for," Steve said pulling out two diamonds from thin air. He threw one of them into the air and caught it with his other hand, now holding one diamond in each hand. They glowed a bright blue and were as shiny as the sun. Ryder stared at them for a moment before Steve placed them somewhere that Ryder couldn't see as he stood up trying to hold himself together. The two of them began their journey back to the minecarts through the dimmed cave. The groans and movements of unknown creatures could be heard all around them. Ryder stuck close to Steve afraid of being left alone again. Despite all of the strange noises around them, they encountered nothing in their path. The only things were the sounds and nothing else.

"What happened here?" Ryder asked as he looked at the remains of a ruined mineshaft that seemed to one day have been prosperous. There were chests covered in the webs of what Ryder thought were just normal old spiders. The occasional hissing was heard deeper into the alternate paths.

"This place used to once be a thriving place full of workers spending their days mining for the people of my world." Steve paused for a moment, reflecting on the days where he had everything that he could ever want.

"And?" Ryder said wanting to find out more.

"Shaggy, has done more harm to this universe than anyone else. He has caused the destruction of entire planets and civilizations," Ryder's fears were only amplified now. If what Steve saying was true then what exactly he is supposed to do to stop him.

"And we are gonna fight him with a diamond sword?" Ryder asked.

To Ryder's surprise, Steve let out a laugh at his question, "These diamonds are extremely durable and we aren't gonna use them to defeat him, only for our own defense. The real power is that the stone back up there," Steve pointed a finger into the air, "That is what we will use. If we can harness its power and manage to direct it into him, I doubt that there is any way he could survive that."

Ryder let out a long sigh as they stepped out of the cave and back into the ravine. The two minecarts were still there on the unpowered railway. Steve flicked the switch up and down again which caused the minetrack to become powered again. The redstone glowed brightly once more relieving Ryder a little bit. Steve placed the torch he was holding on the wall and proceeded to his minecart. Steve spotted something odd a little distance down the ravine. He squinted his eyes and leaned in to see if his suspicions were correct. "Hold on a second." He said raising his hand to stop Ryder from getting in his cart. Ryder looked over at the spot Steve was staring at and spotted the abnormality. A fraction of the railway was unpowered and dark.

"Should we be worried about that?" Ryder asked as he took a few steps away from the minecarts. Steve walked across the ledge that they were on to get as close to the spot as he could.

"Wait here," Steve muttered pulling out a diamond sword from his back. The blade glistened from the light of the redstone. It was long and sturdy in Steve's hand as he proceeded to step onto the rails. Ryder wanted to try and stop him but his own fear stopped him from stepping up. Steve carefully prowled across the minetrack holding the sword in front of him defensively. Ryder heard a noise from the cave behind him. He turned around and frantically looked for a source but saw nothing. Steve approached the darkened spot on the railway and bent down running his hand over it. It was more of a problem then he thought as he saw that the rest of the railway was unpowered. The powered part behind him suddenly went out. He jumped onto his feet and quickly searched around him. Darkness surrounded him trapping him in a black void.

"Steve!" Ryder shouted out from the distance as he ran to the ledge of the cliff. Steve was to far out for Ryder to reach unless he got onto the railway himself. The noises that he heard back in the cave were growing ever so much closer.

"Hold on-" Steve was cut off when an explosion below him caused part of the track to fall down into the void. Steve grabbed onto a rail and the sword in his hands fell a few feet in front of him, barely avoiding falling down. Ryder saw it all happen as panic struck. He didn't know what to do and looked around trying to find something. Steve managed to pull himself up and ran back towards the cliff. He grabbed his sword as another explosion caused him to fall onto his face, sword once again dropped onto the ground.

"Steve what is happening?" Ryder asked, walking along the edge of the cliff trying to see what the source of the explosions were. He could see nothing down in the deep dark abyss. The support beams that held the railway up were beginning to collapse. Steve held onto the rail, struggling to keep his grip.

"Ryder, grab the sword!' Steve yelled as his gripping began to fail. Ryder gulped as he stepped onto the railway, nearly slipping on it as he took a deep breath. The sword wasn't to far off from where he was. It was much closer then where Steve was situated. A faint splashing sound could be heard from below. The noise relieved Ryder knowing that there was a bottom down under him and that it was filled with water.

"I'm coming Steve!" Ryder shouted back. He advanced closer to the sword and Steve, sweat pouring down his forehead as his breath grew heavier and heavier. Steve was barely holding on when Ryder managed to grab the sword from the ground. "I'm almost there."

"Just go!" Steve yelled as the inevitable came closer and closer. Ryder ignored him and managed to get right up to him just before another explosion occurred below them. This time the entire railway began to give in. Ryder nearly lost his footing upon impact.

"Run, Ryder!" Steve yelled as the entire place started to fall apart. More explosions occurred all around them causing pieces of stone to collapse in on them. Ryder reached down once more trying to grab Steve's hand, but it was to late. Steve fell into the unknown while Ryder watched in complete shock. A large splash was heard when Steve landed in the cold water down below.

"Steve…" Ryder gasped as he froze for a second. He snapped back into reality when the railway below him began to crack. Holding the sword tightly in his hand he ran back to the cliff. He barely made it back onto safe ground with final jump smashing into the stone floor before him.

"Ryder!" a voice called from down below. The crumbling of the railway could be heard from every direction as they entire thing collapsed in. Ryder quickly ran up to the edge and peered down to see if his hopes were true. He didn't notice the hissing and groaning had seemingly stopped. "Ryder you need to get out of here!" The voice shouted as the splashing of water was heard.

"What about you?" Ryder shouted back not wanting to leave without Steve, especially considering he would have to face the darkness alone. The torch that Steve had placed on the wall not only went unlit, but disappeared as if it was never there.

"I'll be fine. There is another exit through the cave we were in earlier. If you head down it and take the second pathway or your left, follow the path and you will reach the surface," Steve said as he climbed onto solid ground, wiping himself off of the near freezing water. He could barely see anything in front of him and began to wander aimlessly searching for a way back up.

"Steve I-" Ryder paused when he felt a presence near him. He stood up and turned around to see nothing but the darkness of the unknown. While staring at it for a while he felt the presence not in front of him but rather behind him. It pierced through his soul and sent shivers down his spine. He slowly turned around only to see two white spots floating in the air. They glowed and revealed nothing about where they were coming from, only the square shapes similar to Steve's eyes. The sinister feeling he got from them caused him to freeze on the spot, not tearing his attention away for anything else.

"Hello?" he muttered facing down the most nightmarish thing he had ever witnessed. He held up the diamond sword ready to attack. Nothing happened. The two spots never moved and Ryder never broke eye contact. An idea came into his head. He felt around his pockets remembering something that could have been useful for the whole time he was down there. A feeling of hope resonated within himself when he felt his phone in his pocket. A feeling of stupidity also came to him as he had completely forgot that he had it. The glowing white squares were still there when Ryder pulled his phone from his pocket and aimed the camera at them. He paused thinking about what would be a better option. Should he take a picture, or turn on the camera? Steve seemed to always keep light near him at all times when in the cave, perhaps it held off the evil within it. Ryder held his finger over the flashlight button and with one swift move turned it on. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing there. No white spots, no demonic creature that Ryder had expected and created in his imagination, just the gray wall of stone that had rested there before. Ryder sighed both a breath of relief but also confusion. Another worry entered his mind thinking that maybe he was going crazy. Perhaps everything that happened had taken a toll on his mind. Maybe the amount of stress and fears he faced daily final got to him and broke him.

"Hello?" a voice cried from behind him. This time, Ryder knew that there was no way it was his mind playing tricks, and this time it caused him to become absolutely petrified. He turned around in one swift motion, sword in hand and raised ready to attack, but saw nothing once more. He was about to scream in frustration when he saw something flying towards him. He narrowly avoided it ducking down and watching an arrow fly over his head.

Something was coming towards him now. It wasn't as fast as the footsteps that chased him earlier. In fact they were moving rather slow, slower than what a normal human would move at. Ryder, gripping the sword tightly in one hand and phone in the other, slowly moved to the entrance of the cave. The creature that he saw almost made him drop the sword in shock. It wore the same clothes as Steve but had dark green skin with soul piercing black eyes. It looked like it was undead by the way it was moving with it's arms held out in front of it.

"What the heck?" Ryder said in complete and utter astonishment. The zombie had no reaction to the sword held out right in front of it. It continued to move towards the boy. Ryder backed away trying to keep his distance. A groan was heard behind him. He swiftly turned and saw another zombie behind him that had appeared out of thin air. More and more seemed to be coming from every direction.

"Where did you come from?" he uttered quickly, not expecting a response, looking from back to front trying to count how many entities stood before him. He swung his sword trying to get some sort of reaction off them, but to no avail. They were only a few feet away from him now as he backed into a wall. He looked at the sword in his hand and knew that he wouldn't get out of the situation without using force. Ryder dropped the phone onto the ground causing it to light up the area around him.

"Steve!" Ryder shouted one last time hoping that Steve would come and rescue him. He got no response and took a deep breath before swinging the sword at one of the zombies. The blade sliced right through the zombie like butter. The zombie fell to the floor dead. More dead than it already was at least. A smile came to his face as he swung it again and again at the masses of the undead trapping him. More and more zombies fell to the floor before disappearing leaving only pieces of flesh behind. An arrow landed right next to his head digging into the wall behind him. A skeleton holding a bow and arrow walked out of the darkness and into the light. Ryder asked no questions and swung the sword at the fleshless life form. It shattered into and pieces leaving bones laying all over the floor. The endless waves of the undead showed no signs of ceasing. Ryder was becoming overwhelmed by the masses. He was not very good at handling the sword, nearly dropping it after every hit. He fell to the floor as more and more of the horde surrounded him. A zombie jumped onto him only being blocked by the sword he held tightly in his hands. More and more piled on top of him. Suddenly, one of the zombies was thrown off him followed by several more. Ryder looked up to see Steve holding a diamond pickaxe using it as a weapon and fending off the horde with it.

"Come on Ryder!" Steve yelled holding back the zombies while Ryder stood up, "Pass me that sword!" he said holding out a hand behind him. Ryder placed the sword in his hand, Steve instantly brought it forwards and began to fend off the masses. He used the sword and pickaxe to swiftly clear through the skeletons and zombies. Ryder watched in amazement at just how skilled Steve was with weapons. While he couldn't even keep his footing while fighting Steve managed to take down the undead like it was nothing.

"How did you get back up here?" Ryder asked as he picked up his phone and the two of the ran through the cave. Despite how many creatures Steve was taking down there only appeared to be more and more coming.

"I mined," Steve said piercing through the flesh of several zombies with one swing. Steve kicked one of the zombies sending it flying back through several more, "Come on we can't stop now." The entire cave began rumbling. Ryder and Steve ran through the hordes until they ended up turning into a separate part of the mineshaft. A minecart sat on an abandoned railway which Steve pointed out immediately, "Quickly hop in!" he shouted to Ryder, who followed instructions without question.

"How are we gonna get this going?" Ryder asked as he watched Steve hold off the endless horde. Steve ran up to the minecart, flicking a switch just before he jumped in. The redstone railway ignited instantly causing the minecart to take off down the cave, "Are we in the clear?" Ryder asked watching the skeletons and zombies fade in the distance. The narrow walls around them grew wider and wider. The once small mineshaft they were in expanded into a massive ravine, each wall filled with torches brightening it.

"Not yet," Steve answered, still holding out the sword and pickaxe expecting for more conflict to ensue. Spiderwebs covered the ceiling above them. Hissing noises emerged from them along with thousands of glowing red eyes. Massive spiders started descending down towards Steve and Ryder. Ryder nearly fainted seeing the stuff of nightmares happen right before him.

The spiders jumped onto the railway and the sides of the minecart. Steve knocked them off as more and more emerged from the webs, "Did you expect me to get through all of this?" Ryder asked he huddled down in the back of the minecart making himself as small as possible.

"Can you ask questions later?" Steve replied. He put away the sword and pickaxe and pulled out a bow and arrow that was used by the skeletons. In a matter of seconds he managed to shoot several arrows at the oversized creepy crawlies that threatened them. Each shot hit their target causing lifeless corpses of spiders to fall down into the darkness.

"Wow," Ryder gasped as he watched Steve single-handedly defend the two of them using only a bow and arrow. His amazement was cut short when the minecart stopped dead in its tracks, "Oh come on," Ryder sighed while spiders surrounded them from every angle and altitude.

"Something isn't right," Steve admitted pulling out his sword once more. He pulled out his pickaxe and offered it to Ryder, "Take it and watch my back," Steve said forcing it into the boy's hands and jumping onto the track. Ryder got out on the other side and froze as one of the spiders approached him. He tried to keep his distance and avoid conflict but couldn't. He hit the back of the minecart and knew that he would have to fight rather than flee.

"Where are they all coming from?" Ryder shouted to Steve as he readied himself. With one swift motion he swung the tip of the pickaxe into the spider's head. Instead of guts exploding out the spider flipped over onto its back and disappeared, leaving only one spider eye to remember it by.

"I have a few guesses," Steve replied, handling the entire situation far better than Ryder was. He managed to stay extremely calm given the circumstances as if he had been through it one hundred times. Something flew over their heads landing a little distance down the railway, back turned towards them bending over with a black cloak concealing it's identity.

"About time." the hooded figure said as it stood up, still facing away from them. It turned around to reveal the same two glowing white eyes that petrified Ryder earlier. A sinister smile formed on its face as it slowly moved towards them.

"I was wondering when you finally show yourself," Steve said holding his sword up defensively. The spiders stopped their assault on the two and backed away from them as the white-eyed man got closer. Ryder didn't utter a word as he tried to hide himself behind the minecart. Steve gripped the diamond sword tightly and began to move forwards.

"It's been awhile since you came down here. Wonder what caused that change?" the cloaked man said looking down at his fingers, fiddling around with them. Ryder thought about what was going to happen next. He just wanted to finally see the sunlight again and take a well needed breath of fresh air.

"What do you want?" Steve asked stopping a few meters away from the cloaked man.

The man stopped alongside him and sighed, "What do you want?" the man retaliated. He stared at the diamond sword in Steve's hands, "I see that you found a friend after all these years," Ryder's face went blank. He knew now that the two glowing white spots were indeed the eyes of the man that currently faced Steve. What it meant for him was something that he wasn't too eager to find out.

"Just needed some resources," Steve said firmly trying to change the topic away from Ryder. It was no use.

"Do you know how long we have waited down here?" asked the man looking around him at all of the spiders that now stalked them from above.

"I'm gonna give you one last chance to get out of our was," Steve declared as he once more began to move towards the man. The man let out another sigh and formed a replica sword in his own hands. It bared the same dimensions but glowed gray with a white aura coming off of it. Ryder peaked his head over the minecart. Steve and the cloaked man were inching towards each other ever so slowly. Another thing caught his eye. There was a pathway connecting to the railway that lead down to a wall. On it, laid another switch that was currently turned off. An idea popped into his head.

"I guess we are doing this," the cloaked man said. Another sword materialized in his other hand. Steve said nothing more and swung his sword at the man. Their swords clashed with each other, making a loud banging sound on impact. Steve narrowly avoided a swing from the other sword the man had.

"Just let us through," Steve insisted as he continued to fight. Despite the disadvantage of only having one sword Steve still managed to overcome challenge. He got a few good swings on the man causing him to fall backwards. Steve pointed the sword at his skull before the man rolled backwards and landing back on his feet.

Ryder quietly stepped into the minecart and out onto the other side. He snuck over to the lever as sneakily as he could. A spider watched him closely when he turned onto the separate path. It, along with a few more spiders, began to descend from the ceiling once more blocking the boys path. Ryder was still holding the pickaxe he got from earlier and didn't hesitate to fight this time.

"I'm just trying to get to that lever," he said to the spiders trying to avoid any fight if he could. It didn't work as he expected so he swung the pickaxe into one of the spiders heads. Another one jumped on him causing him to fall on his back barely avoiding the sharp fangs that tried to dig into his skin. He pushed it off of him and down into the abyss below. Wasting no time he jumped back onto his feet and swung into another spider. He fought off several more before finally reaching his destination. He looked back at where Steve was seeing that he had progressed much farther down the railway then before. Steve and the man were still fighting each other with all of their might. Steve had managed to gain the advantage and showed no signs of being exhausted. Ryder flicked the lever up causing the redstone to ignite once more. The minecart took off instantaneously at high speeds.

"Steve, jump!" Ryder yelled as loudly as he possibly could. Steve obeyed and leaped into the air while the cloaked man paused in confusion. In a matter of seconds the minecart smashed into him and shattered into pieces while sending the man flying back with a large explosion of energy. Ryder flicked the switch off and ran down to Steve as quickly as he could.

"Nice one," Steve said getting back on his feet and taking a moment to relax.

"Is he dead?" Ryder asked looking at the motionless body laying far in front of them.

"Most certainly not. Quickly we must get to him," Steve said as the two of them ran up to the now unconscious man. His eyes no longer glowed the pure white they did before and rather appeared black and lifeless.

"He looks dead," Ryder said as Steve bent down and ran a hand across the body. It disappeared into nothingness and Steve instantly got back up. Voices began to float around them and laughter was heard.

"Uh oh," Steve said while Ryder started to lose the wave he confidence he held earlier.

"What is happening?" Ryder asked trying to figure out where the voices were coming from. The rumbling that occurred earlier began to pick up again, growing more intense and fierce then it was before.

"Run," Steve said as an explosion occurred above them. The lifeless bodies of spiders started to fall all around them and fade away the same way that the man did. It was as if everything that had previously halted them was all fake. The spider webs faded away as more explosions happened. Pieces of stone started to fall from the ceiling as Steve and Ryder ran down the railway.

"This is not what I expected when I woke up," Ryder joked trying to maintain himself. The entirety of the day had taken a toll on him. He tried to go for as long as he could not breaking down as more and more things affected him. A little bit of hope came back to him when the two of them saw light at the end of the ravine. The railway went upwards rather than straight and Ryder knew that this was freedom.

"Almost there," Steve said as the two began to ascend up to the light. The entire cave was collapsing behind them with the laughter that plagued it growing ever so louder. Ryder tried not to dwell on it and just focus on freedom. Shaggy, the cloaked man and the Paw Patrol all exited his mind as he cleared his thoughts.

"Come on!" Steve yelled as the two of the nearly reached the hole. An explosion happened right in front of them causing Ryder and Steve to fall backwards. Steve fell a little further then Ryder. Neither of them said anything and they both got back and continued their ascent, "Keep going Ryder!" Steve shouted as Ryder managed to step back into the open air. He took in a deep breath and looked around him. The valley that he was in earlier hadn't changed at all. It was still the same old beautiful green and vibrant place that caused a certain calmness within him. He turned back into the cave that Steve still had yet to escape. Steve was struggling to continue climbing as more and more debris blocked his path.

"Come on," Ryder whispered to himself watching helplessly as Steve barely managed to stay on his feet. Just when it seemed that Steve was about to make it another explosion caused both him and Ryder to fly back in different directions. Ryder was forced away from the cave while Steve was sent hurtling back into it. The entrance to the cave collapse in trapping Steve within it.

"No!" Ryder yelled in disbelief. He ran up to the rocks now blocking him from the one thing that he found comfort in.

"Ryder!" A voice cried from within the cave, "Get back to the house, make a diamond sword and get that stone. From there find your way back to Adventure Bay!" it said.

"What about you?" Ryder asked not wanting to be alone once more.

"I will be fine," Steve replied sounding breathless.

"I don't even have the diamonds!" Ryder said. He felt around his pockets to see if he had remembered his phone. He found it and pulled it out only to realize what he was looking at. He held two blue diamonds in his hands and became dumbfounded. Steve had gone silent back down in the cave, "Steve?" Ryder asked one last time. There was no response. Ryder took a deep breath and stood up, placing the diamonds back in his pocket. The smoke from the house that Steve lived in was still going as Ryder set out on his own, not knowing what to do next.


	7. Out on the Ocean

Rocky's eyes shot open in an instant, for a second forgetting where he was. His vision was blurry as he they tried to adjust to the bright light that shined upon the earth. He started to reminisce on what happened during the previous night. The thought of Shaggy still terrified him, but he felt much safer now that he had met Shrek. It was nice to have someone to feel safe around during times of need. Speaking of the ogre, he was sitting at the front of the boat unaware of a pup waking up. Rocky needed answers to everything that he had witnessed. He spoke in a groggy voice, "Can you tell me what is going on here?"

Shrek turned to face the pup with a surprised expression, "What do you want to ask about?" he asked standing up at stretching his long ogre arms into the crisp air.

"How about you tell me what all of… This is," Rocky said looking around him, taking a particular notice at the Lorax sword and Shrek.

"Yes, I suppose that I never told you about what is happening here. Although, maybe we should wait until your…" Shrek looked over Rocky and at the two other pups in a deep sleep behind him, "Friends wake up there."

The Lorax sword began to emit a low pitched ringing. It got louder before the pitch lowered once more. The cycle from an upward pitch to a downward pitch continued as the boat breezed through the sea. Both Shrek and Rocky took interest in it the instant it started to make the noise. Cautiously, they inched towards the orange blade that, yet motionless, seemed alive. The glowing orange orb that sat in the middle seemed to follow the same pattern as the noise. It's usually glowing bright light went dim for a second before gleaming once more. Rocky looked up at Shrek, waiting for the ogre to make some sort of move, but he too seemed to be just as dazzled as him.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Rocky silently asked fearing that there was something listening to them, though he didn't know why.

"Honestly, I am not sure," Shrek admitted lowering his great ogre hand down to the mustache. It seemed to be the source of the noise. With one swift move he lifted the mustache to reveal seven empty slots, one of which was flashing with a strange green light.

"Whoa," Rocky gasped, staring into the enthralling light, "Maybe there is a reason it is doing this?"

"I am sure it wouldn't be doing this without reason. I don't even know what these slots are here for. Guess there is more to this thing than I thought." Shrek picked up the sword by the handle, swinging it slightly as he found his grip, "Maybe it is trying to tell us something." Shrek said, joking a little, but also wanting it to be true.

"What is telling us something?" a groggy voice asked from behind them. They both turned around to see the previous sound asleep Lab now awake.

"Oh you are awake Zuma," Rocky said surprised to see him.

"You are not that quiet," Zuma yawned. His eyes became fixated on the Lorax sword that Shrek was holding, "What is that?"

"The Lorax sword," Shrek replied admiring it while still trying to figure out what it was doing.

"Dude… There are seven slots there, one of them is glowing green and there is an orange one in the middle… Clearly it is the Paw Patrol!" Zuma exclaimed jokingly.

"Wait… Seven slots and a fragment already in it…"

"Hold on a fragment is in it? What fragment?" Rocky questioned. Shrek came to the realization that Rocky and Zuma will still unaware of what exactly was going on.

"Right. I guess it is important that I tell you," Shrek sighed as he put the sword down on the ground carefully, "Listen up you two."

* * *

Marshall slowly opened his eyes to a bright orange sun shining in the morning sky. The salty smell of the ocean filled his nostrils. Next to him laid two other pups in deep sleep resting from the day before. The clouds were flying past him as the boat he was in zoomed through the ocean. He leisurely stood up and stretched his back into the air. It took him a moment to remember why he was in the middle of the ocean on a boat.

"About time one of you got up," a voice said behind him. Marshall turned to see Ethan still driving the boat. His face showed that he hadn't slept for a long time.

"Have you been awake for this whole time?" questioned Marshall, who looked down at the two sleeping pups. They seemed to be resting well and having good dreams.

"Yep," Ethan admitted not facing away from the ocean in front of him for one second, "Turtle man told me to keep going forward and, since I have never had a turtle give me instructions and have no knowledge on how to get back to my city, I sort of have no choice."

"I mean you don't have to take us back," Marshall claimed hearing Ethan's resentful tone. He knew that Ethan had absolutely no part in this and didn't want any part in it either. Marshall noticed that it was no longer early in the night and rather early in the morning, "How long have we been going for?"

"Ever since you went to sleep," Ethan said yawning and slumping over onto the wheel of the boat. Marshall put his paws on the side of the boat and peaked over. Absolutely nothing but the vast ocean surrounded them. Skye, who Marshall previously thought was in the middle of a deep sleep, stood up panting and looking around herself frantically. She had just awoken from a nightmare and appeared to be bewildered as she figured out where she was. In her moment of panic she also happened to wake Rubble up.

"Skye, are you alright?" Marshall asked helping his friend stay on her feet. Skye recollected herself and took several deep breaths before finally coming back to her senses.

"I'm fine," she stated firmly after a moment. Skye tried to act as if nothing was wrong.

"Well you aren't acting like it," Rubble remarked drowsily, rubbing his head after stood up awoken from his sleep prematurely.

"I think someone was having a bad dream," Ethan suggested mockingly.

"What? No I wasn't!" Skye exclaimed. She marched towards Ethan, who was smirking at his own remark.

"Alright how about everyone just calms down," Marshall proposed trying to break the tension.

"Calm down? Yesterday I met a talking turtle and saw him swing a magic stick in the air and turn a flying man to ash. Then he forced me here and put me on a boat telling me to just keep going forward! You guys are telling me you don't see anything wrong with this?" Ethan shouted in anger. Seeing the shocked yet understanding expressions on the three pups faces caused him to realize how he was acting.

"You're right," Skye admitted as she lied down on the cold and slightly damp metal floor, "Maybe we should just try to collect ourselves. After all, we are all stuck on this boat with each other until we can find land."

"Look I am sorry it's just, I am a little confused on everything that is happening right now," Ethan apologized as he took a deep breath. Everyone went silent for a moment while they all quietly thought to themselves. Rubble was just trying to stay quiet in the corner of the boat while Marshall and Skye tried to figure out what to do next. All of their surroundings suggested that there was absolutely no dry land around them for miles. Both the pups and Ethan were hungry and just as confused as each other. They were all torn on whether to continue heading off into the unknown or turn back to a place where there at least something they could live on. Nobody knew what to say to each other and they decided to stay quiet as they zoomed through the endless ocean.

* * *

"Well that was an interesting story," Rocky admitted staring at Shrek with a blank face. Zuma sat next to him completely stunned not saying a word.

"At Least you now understand what is happening," Shrek claimed letting out a breath of exhaustion from his long explanation.

"Hold on…" Rocky thought for a moment about Shrek's story. He made sure that he listened to each and every word very carefully trying to piece together everything that was happening, "You said that Shaggy's only goal here is to kill?" Rocky asked as he pondered on the past few encounters that faced him.

"Yes," Shrek replied, though he also noticed that something might have been off in his story.

"If that is the case then what is he doing at Adventure Bay and that island. If these fragments are meant to kill him, why is he trying to get them?"

Shrek thought about what Rocky said for a few moments. His view on Shaggy was so clouded by the past that plagued him that he couldn't see any humanity in him. An idea came into his mind, "These fragments, are not necessarily made for the soul purpose of killing Shaggy. They are incredibly powerful, therefore people assume they were made to stop him. It is not proven however. The Shaggy that is currently standing in our way doesn't hold the same power as the original, so is it that hard to assume he also wants the fragments for himself?"

"Maybe we could find a more rational-"

"No listen to me," Shrek contended raising his voice, "Shaggy took away everything that I loved, that I held onto dearly. You think that there is rationalizing someone who has killed millions for no reason?" Shrek's voice caused Rocky and Zuma to tremble. Chase was awoken by the roaring thunder of the Ogre's shout.

"I'm just saying-"

"How would you feel if you lost that which you love? Would you hide away and cower in fear, or seek vengeance for those lost? Would you never accept the fact that they are gone and never move on? Because that is what I did for the longest time."

"Look. I don't have any say in what Shaggy is or what he is trying to do. I was just trying to think of some sort of reason, when he clearly does not have one. I'm sorry," Rocky apologized as he and Zuma cowered below the mighty ogre.

"What is going on here?" Chase inquired from behind them. Rocky and Zuma spun around as Shrek calmed himself down.

"Sorry I got a little carried away there," Shrek admitted taking a few deep breaths, "Anyway we should keep focus on where we are heading," he said facing the front of the boat into the sea. There was still nothing around them as far as the eye could see.

"What about that sword? I think we figure out what it does before we try and use it to our advantage," Rocky advised. The fragment was still pulsing in the blade and the left slot was still flashing green.

"That is probably a good idea," Chase added taking notice of what the sword was doing.

"Let's see here then," Shrek said as he stopped the boat momentarily to test the fragments powers. He raised the sword into the air and inspecting it. The tip of the blade was aimed into the clear blue sky as low rumbling began deep below them. The fragment began to glow brighter than it ever had before.

"Does anyone hear that?" Chase asked picking up on it first. Everyone else started to take notice and looked down at their feet. The rumbling grew louder and more fierce.

"Maybe you should put it down!" Rocky suggested as panic struck all of them. Shrek tried with all his might but something inside of him would not let him lower the blade. The rumbling peaked as the tip of a rock emerged from the ocean a little distance away from them. The rock grew bigger and bigger until eventually it expanded into a mountain. Everyone's jaw dropped and their eyes went wide.

"Dude!" Zuma shouted in excitement. His tail began wagging at ever increasing speeds. Rocky was still captivated by what he was seeing. Chase shook his head to see if he was still in reality. Shrek finally was able to put the sword to his side at which point the mountain ceased in its expansion.

"Did… Did you just raise that from the bottom of the ocean?" Rocky asked staring at the newly formed landmass towering over him. Water poured down its sides causing water to splash onto the side of the boat.

"I think so," Shrek said. He pointed the tip of the blade at the peak of the mountain. More rumbling transpired while more rocky formations emerged from the sea. A pathway to the base of the mountain was created right before their very eyes.

"I thought that was the fragment of life?" Chase commented as he watched more and more landmass surfaced from the depths of the ocean.

"Well that is what I thought. Perhaps there is more to this thing than I thought," Shrek claimed admiring the sword and its newfound power.

"Awesome!" Zuma shrieked as he jumped out of the boat and onto the stone.

"Zuma wait!" Rocky yelled trying to stop him, it was too late. Zuma started to trot along the damp and cold land. Shrek swung the sword in a circle around the pathway creating an arch of stone above it, "That thing seems to be less of the fragment of life and more of creation," Rocky observed as Shrek created several more arches above Zuma, who watched in awe.

"I think you're right," Shrek said smiling with glee; excited to see that the fragment was so much more than he anticipated, "Why don't you two go join him on there?" he asked as he watched the Chocolate lab jump around in joy.

"Water isn't really my thing, " Rocky began to tell Shrek, "And I am not sure that it is safe."

"I'll check it out," Chase announced jumping out of the boat and onto the stone. Rocky watched helplessly as the German shepherd caught up to Zuma nearing the base of the mountain.

"A pup who doesn't like water? I have never heard of that before," Shrek said pondering why a dog would dislike water.

"More of afraid than dislike in all honesty," Rocky confessed staring down into the water, endless thoughts of his past cycling through his mind.

"Why?" Shrek asked taking a note of Rocky's now blank face.

"Just a… Some things that happened in the past that I never managed to overcome now," Rocky said trying to clear his mind.

"Oh…" Shrek said as he realized what he had brought into Rocky's mind. Shrek began to think of his past and how it affected him. For a second, the two just sat there lost in their own minds.

Rocky shook his head and was brought back to his senses, "Yep there are just some things that can never change I guess. I mean every single one of us pups have experienced something similar to each other. It's kind of the reason that we came together in the first place." Shrek stared down at the pup. He looked sad, but also happy at the same time. He raised his hand attempting to comfort him, but his own thoughts made him need some comforting of his own. The two lost souls just sat there motionless, pondering on their lives.

"Shrek!" a voice called out. They broke away from their thoughts and looked up. Chase and Zuma were standing in front of the mountain staring back at them, "Can you do more with that sword?" Chase asked having no where else to explore.

"Let's see," Shrek said standing back up. He aimed the sword at the mountain and swung it around it. A spiral of rocks started to form around it. Each time Shrek used the sword Zuma became more and more excited. Chase and Rocky couldn't help but become a little excited as well. Seeing things pop into existence from nowhere was extraordinary. Zuma's tail wagged even faster as Shrek stopped creating the spiral around the mountain. He began his ascent to the mountaintop with Chase trailing slowly behind.

"How are you even working that thing?" Rocky asked a proud looking Shrek, who still admired the sword every time he used it.

"I don't really know it just kind of… Works. I don't even know if I have to swing it around to get to work, but it seems to help me focus this thing." Shrek raised the sword into the air once more. He started to swing it around in a circle slicing through the air. He turned around to face away from Chase and Zuma and into the empty ocean. In the sky, a large boulder was forming from thin air. The more Shrek swung the sword the larger it grew. If it weren't for the fact that it hovered a long distance away from them its size would have been large enough to crush both the boat and the mountain.

"Maybe you should stop," Rocky suggested becoming concerned at the ever increasing size of the boulder, "That thing is large enough already."

"Wait, I want to see if this thing has its limits," Shrek stated still continuing the same swinging routine. Rocky's fears only grew as the boulder grew. It appeared to be getting larger than the entirety of the horizon. Shrek started to struggle keeping the sword in the air.

"Alright that is getting concerningly large!" Rocky shouted backing into the side of the boat. Shrek finally stopped lowering the sword to his side, panting heavily and quickly. The boulder fell down into the sea, a massive wave of water coming from underneath it. Shrek and Rocky braced for impact as the wave approached them quickly. It struck the side of the boat with such a force that it nearly flipped it over. A large portion of water drenched the two as they tried to get back on their feet.

"Come on!" Rocky shouted shaking the water off. He looked down at his paw now soaked in water and sighed.

"Sorry, I didn't think it could get that big," Shrek said as he watched his creation sink into the sea. It disappeared from sight rather quickly, "That was a lot harder than it looked, I think if I had more energy that thing could have grown larger than the earth," Shrek claimed. He looked down at the sword once more, the glowing orange fragment within it still shining orange.

Rocky noticed that the glowing green slot seemed to be glowing brighter than before, "Hey, is it just me or is that thing glowing brighter?" he asked Shrek who also caught onto it.

"It appears so…" he replied as he started to look around him. He didn't know exactly what he was looking for, but he felt as if there was something else around him.

"What's up!" Zuma shouted from the top of the mountain. Shrek and Rocky turned to face him. When they saw him they both looked at each other with the same face. Chase appeared behind him a few moments later, appearing exhausted. Something caught Chase and Zuma's attention. The two of them turned around into what they thought was an ocean devoid of anything. A small gray object was coming towards them at high speeds. It took them a few moments to realize what it was. The two squinted seeing something moving around inside of it. Three small pups standing next to a larger boy were all looking up at them. The two both looked at each other as they both figured out what was going on.

"What is happening up there you two!" Shrek shouted, his thunderous voice echoed throughout the ocean. The two didn't respond and seemed to be in some sort of daze. They started to descend down the mountain and come back to the boat. Their rapid movements made Shrek and Rocky realize that they must have seen something noteworthy that caused them to run down. Eventually they reached the pathway leading up to the mountain and ran back towards the boat. They arrived exhausted and out of breath.

"What happened, what did you see?" Rocky asked in a panic. Shrek stayed on alert thinking that there was something of trouble coming. The timing of the sword's ever growing sound and the two pups running down the mountain in a panic seemed to conspicuous to not take note of.

Chase took a moment to catch his breath before responding. "Marshall, Skye and Rubble!" Chase exclaimed sounding both shocked and excited.

"What?" Rocky gasped in shock, not believing a word that was said, though he wanted to.

"We saw them!" Zuma shouted in glee. He was filled with joy and didn't understand the confusing circumstances that were taking place. The sound of an engine rumbling started to grow louder from the other side of the mountain. Everyone stopped their chattering and only listened to the sounds in the air. A boat came into sight. Anticipation built up in all of them as it inched closer. The familiar faces of three pups were all hanging over the edge of the boat. A tall boy with glasses was driving it; he looked the most confused out of anyone.

"Who are they?" Shrek asked the three pups that stood next to him.

"Our friends!" Zuma said in delight. The boat stopped right next to them, no one said a word as they all stared at each other. Ethan stepped down from the wheel as he stared in shock at the large green ogre. Everyone was stuck gazing at each other, trying to verify if what they were seeing was real.

"Uh…" Chase mumbled staring down at the wide pink eyes of a cockapoo.

"Chase?" Skye whispered staring back up at him, a smile coming to her face.

"I was so worried-" he declared before being tackled onto his side by several more pups. Every pup jumped onto each other with their tails wagging.

Ethan slowly walked up the mighty ogre that was looking down at the pups smiling, "Uh… Hi there what are… Who are you?" he asked trying to figure out what he was looking at. Though he had his whole world changed the day before, he still was shocked to see something unearthly.

"I'm Shrek. Don't worry, I am an ogre and we ogre's are friendly," Shrek said raising his hand to give Ethan a handshake. Ethan hesitantly raised his and placed it in the large green palm. His hand couldn't managed to even reach around Shrek's. Shrek gently grabbed it and shook it up and down.

"What is happening here?" Ethan asked still keeping his eyes locked on Shrek's face. The pups were all still reuniting with each other. Ethan nearly didn't even notice the mustached sword in Shrek's hands.

"The pups are happy to see each other," Shrek answered giving a soft chuckle.

"No I meant what is happening in this whole situation. I mean you are holding a strange orange sword there, with a glowing orange fragment within it. It sounds like a heart is beating inside of it and-"

"There is a lot of things going on right now," Shrek remarked, "This is the Lorax sword. This orange orb here is a fragment of life… Actually I would say fragment of creation." Shrek pointed the sword at the tip of the mountain. A single tree sprouted from it that Ethan had never seen before.

"It makes trees?" Ethan observed looking at the strange tree. It had white-and-black striped bark and a large pink tuft at the top, which looked like it would be the perfect material for clothing.

"It can do way more than that. It created all that land right there," Shrek claimed admiring the newly formed mass.

"That thing made matter from nothing? I thought that was impossible," Ethan said readjusting his glasses. Despite everything that was happening he still tried to think of the situation logically. Everything was falling apart.

Rocky stepped away from all of the pups chattering with each other, talking about everything that had happened and what they had seen. Rocky was far more interested in how they managed to find the other three pups in what he assumed was the middle of the ocean. He walked up to Ethan, "You are talking to a green ogre who is holding a sword with a mustache that can create rocks, I think that what we thought was impossible is no longer that." He interjected into their conversation.

Ethan nodded in agreement before changing the subject, "You must be Rocky," he said kneeling down onto one knee, "I'm Ethan Humphries, I was kind of thrown into this whole situation in the strangest way," he claimed as he lowered his hand down to Rocky indicating that he was giving a handshake.

Rocky placed his paw into the boy's hand and shook it, "We all were kind of thrown into this whole situation... " he paused for a moment remembering how he even ended up here, "I mean literally thrown into this."

"I guess that explains some things," Ethan joked looking at Marshall and Skye, who were both talking to Chase.

"What do you mean?" Rocky asked noting where Ethan looked to.

"Oh I found them in the middle of a city where I come from. I may have accidentally walked into one of them," he said glancing over at Marshall, who was listening to the conversation.

Marshall broke away from Chase and Skye and walked over to them, "I think it was more of a kick," he added giving a smug grin to Ethan.

"Well it was all just an accident," Ethan assured, "Anyways since we are all here together what is next?" he asked looking up at Shrek, who he assumed was the most knowledgeable of the circumstances.

"Next we go to Adventure Bay and kill Shaggy," Shrek said raising the sword into the air once more and practicing his swing. He didn't try and create anything this time.

"Wait hold on Shaggy was killed though," Ethan replied becoming more confused as thousands of questions filled his mind.

"What?" Shrek asked in bewilderment, "When and where?"

"Back where I came from. It happened last night," he answered wondering why Shrek sounded and appeared so confused.

"Impossible, he attacked us back at Ogre Island last night. Judging by the direction in which you were coming from it would be impossible for him to be at those two locations in one single night," he pointed out.

"Ogre Island? Where is that?" Ethan asked. Everyone had stopped talking to each other and joined in on the conversation. They all looked at each other with the same confused look. Each one of them were wondering who was telling the truth, or if anything that was said was true.

"Way back behind where we are right now. It is where Shaggy had attacked us and for all I know he never left it," Shrek insisted as he started to question what was happening.

"Honestly I am more confused on how we ended up finding each other all the way out here," Rocky declared trying to find some grounding in the conversation.

"Well we were told that if we continued to go straight we would find what we were looking for," Ethan said thinking about what Oogway had told him the night before.

"And who told you that?" Chase asked trying to stay on top of the conversation.

"Um… A strange old talking turtle," Ethan said trying not to laugh at just how silly that sounded. Something about him saying those words made the whole situation a little lighter to him.

"What?" Shrek asked firmly. Everyone stopped to face the Ogre who's face had gone completely blank. His thoughts started to drift away from everything that was happening and he only thought about what Ethan had just said.

"A talking turtle-"

"What was his name?" Shrek asked as he stepped directly in front of Ethan's face. Ethan was taken aback from his actions. Only Rocky had ever seen Shrek act so serious and intimidating.

"His name was Oogway." Marshall said stepping in. Shrek eyes went wide and he nearly fell onto the ground taking a few steps back. Everyone looked at each other trying to figure out if the had said something wrong. Shrek began to process the words in his brain, his surroundings disappeared around him as he fell into his own mind.

"Are you alright?" Skye asked seeing how sick Shrek appeared, as he fell onto the ground nearly fainting. His entire past flashed back in his head, images of what once was replaced what he perceived as reality. Everybody was trying to help and crowding around him, trying to figure out what was going on. After a few more moments of panic Shrek's head finally snapped back into reality. He sat up quickly and breathed heavily, looking around him as if he did not know where he was.

"Shrek what happened?" Chase asked making sure that Shrek was stabilized once more. He patted the Ogre's leg with his paw which seemed to help him calm down. Shrek didn't respond, he appeared as if he was in some sort of trance-like state.

"That was… Not normal," Shrek finally responded. Before anyone could inquire on anything else he continued, "Something is wrong, where is Oogway?" he asked standing up and picking the Lorax sword that he dropped on the ground. Nobody took notice that it had stopped making the noise, which actually stopped quite a while ago.

"Oogway is back that way," Ethan responded pointing in the direction that they came from. A sudden realization came to him when he remembered that he only came from where Oogway left him, not the actual city itself. He did not want to make things more problematic and said nothing more.

"We must go there, now," Shrek stated turning the boat on once more. Everyone started looking at each other wondering what was going on.

"Hold on," Chase declared trying to keep everything organized, "What happened to getting back to Adventure Bay?" he asked as he knew that something in Shrek had caused him to change the plan.

"This is more important," Shrek answered as he pressed a few buttons and got the boat ready. He was not letting anyone intervene with what he was doing and ignored what everyone was trying to say.

"Wait!" Rocky shouted bringing all the attention onto him, "We have two boats, how about we go back to Adventure Bay and you can go do what you need to do, then come back to us."

"I need to go get back to my home anyway. And also I need to get my book," Ethan noted remembering how he left outside of the store. At least what he thought was just a store. He also noted that his book had probably been stolen.

"Wasn't Shaggy at Adventure Bay? Won't he still be there?" Rubble asked barely understanding anything that was happening. All he wanted was to get back home safely and forget everything that happened.

"From everything we know he shouldn't be. If he is we just keep our heads down," Rocky suggested, though he was unsure what would be safer. Heading to a well populated city, or back to Adventure Bay where Shaggy was still potentially lurking. Everyone's story contradicted each other, no one knew where anything was.

Zuma stepped up next to him, "I just wanna get home," he said, the previous day and night had taken a toll on his mind.

"None of you pups have to come with me," Shrek said hopping into the other boat and preparing it.

"No, I will come with you," Chase claimed joining him in the other boat. All of the pups were surprised to hear this, "I need to see what Shrek is talking about, and I can't rest knowing that Shaggy is still out there."

"I'm coming with you," Skye said stepping into the other boat, "Someone needs to stop you from getting into any trouble."

"What trouble? W-wait hold on you-"

"I'm coming with you," she insisted not taking no for an answer. Chase knew not to try and argue against it and decided it would be best to just let her come.

"Alright fine. Anyone else?" Chase asked looking at the rest of the pups. Marshall let out a sigh and joined them in the boat, not saying anything but not wanting to have the constant worry of them not coming back.

"Is that all?" Shrek asked impatient waiting for everyone to be settled on what they want. No one said anything more and he continued, "Alright, we should not be long. Return to Adventure Bay and remember, if you see Shaggy do not engage with him, and definitely avoid him at all costs," Shrek recommended, ready to get going as soon as possible.

Before he could press the button Rocky had one last question, "How does this boat work and where are we going?"

Shrek sighed and got back into his boat. He pressed a few buttons and then pointed at one of them, "Press this button and it will take you to where you need to go." He got back into the boat and after pressing one final thing the boat took off down the ocean. Rocky, Zuma and Rubble were left to ponder what they had just experienced.

"Alright… I hope what he said was true," Rocky muttered under his breath. He pushed the button that Shrek had indicated to and the boat suddenly began to move and turn on it's own. Rocky was surprised to see something like it, though he had no idea if it was actually heading in the direction they needed to go.

"Are we going home?" Rubble asked as the entire encounter had gone over his head.

"I think so," Zuma said with his tail wagging happily once more. All of them laid down trying to get as much rest as they could before they arrived at wherever they were going. The ocean was still vast and endless around them, it was oddly peaceful being in the middle of the sea without anything around you. With one final sigh they all laid in anticipation on what would happen next.


	8. Oogway's Guidance

**Sorry for the wait lads, I was just lazy and also planning my new cinematic universe, which this is a part of.**

* * *

Ethan had never been out on a boat before, he spent his entire life living within one single city. The idea of travelling had never entered his mind and he certainly never expected it to come to him this way, being stuck on a boat with a giant green ogre and three members of the Paw Patrol. The three pups felt similar to him, they often preferred to stay around Adventure Bay and only travel on occasion. Now, all four of them were stuck on the same boat together. Only two souls really travelling the way they wanted to. Ethan always strived for doing something more than living a simple life, but something like this was a little too much for him. He would have rather had a job like the Paw Patrol; Simple little rescues that only ever got somewhat intense.

Deep down, Chase did not actually want to continue follow Shrek to wherever he was going. He wanted what all of the other pups wanted, to go back home to their normal lives. Go back to where they could rest and forget anything that had happened. However, he felt some sort of requirement to always go in the direction of the problem rather than turn away and wait for someone else to solve it. He knew that they could not just go back to their regular old selves by returning to Adventure Bay. Until Shaggy was finally dealt with, nothing could be the same.

Skye, who had always dealt with a troubled past which all of the pups shared in one way or another, wanted to go home more than ever. She only agreed to go because Chase decided to. Whenever she had a problem, she mostly acted like it never actually was a problem. She preferred to conceal deep within herself and hide it from everyone else. It always had taken a toll on her and always came back to her later on. Now, sharing a problem with everyone else, she almost let herself burst out and reveal everything, but she knew that she couldn't. Much like Chase, she agreed to always protect the people of Adventure Bay, and now it stretched a little bit further than a problem kept in one place.

As for the Dalmatian who was lying down in the corner of the boat reflecting on his choice to come, he only agreed to do so because he always aimed to be like Chase. Being a klutz all of the time, something that he always played off for a joke, was something that he never actually complained about despite it truly upsetting him. He never was trying to be as clumsy as he was. Chase was the perfect embodiment of what he wanted to be. He managed to do everything without much problem and often felt like the secondary leader to the rest of the pups. He watched Skye and Chase make conversation with each other about the situation that they were forced into.

Ethan, who was leaning over the backside of the boat and staring down into the ocean as it breezed by them, took a deep breath which filled his nostrils with the salty smell of the sea. There was still nothing around them accept for the unexplored depths that the vast ocean held. White fluffy clouds towered above them, nearly blocking out the entirety of the sky. What started as a bright and sunny morning was being overtaken quickly by the wrath of dark and thunderous clouds. Ethan released all of the air that was built up inside of him, also letting go of the anticipation of what was to come next. Even though he believed that he was heading back home, the entire world seemed to entrap him in a constant cycle of debate. A debate of whether he should help with the problem that plagued the world or ignore it to let more capable people handle it for him. He broke away from his unclear reflection that shimmered in the sea from the light that remained in the world. Turning around, his eyes locked onto Shrek who was still staring blankly in the other direction, facing his own struggles and trying to figure out what the best option was.

Seeing the three pups all chattering with each other and trying to solve their problems by facing them with others, Ethan's mind suddenly shifted back to when the mention of Oogway had caused Shrek to nearly go unconscious. The reason for that was still unclear to him, but he had already made up some ideas in his mind. Ethan believed that at some point in the past the two had previously met with each other, whether it being two friends being with each other or something more sinister. He walked towards him at a leisurely pace; The boat was to small to run on for any amount of time. Shrek never once since splitting away from the rest of the pups had uttered a single word. His mind was so focused on reaching Oogway that the rest of the world faded around him into darkness. He was unable to see anything else at the moment in time. Ethan stopped beside him, pausing for a moment trying to think of something to ask.

To his surprise, he was not the first to ask a question or break the silence that Shrek kept to himself, "Is there something that you want?" asked Shrek who still did not turn to face Ethan. Ethan was taken back by his question, not expecting a word to come out of Shrek's mouth unless provoked. Chase was the only one in the group to have some understanding of Shrek having spent the most time with him, but even then he seemed to be just as confused as to what Shrek wanted.

Ethan gulped, despite not knowing why, it probably was something to do with the storm clouds that crawled through the sky. He was used to storms living in a big city, and big ones at that, but felt uneasy being on boat during one. No longer did he have the comfort of the indoors to shield him from the wrath of mother nature. Shrek's forbidding yet somewhat calming presence also contributed something to it. Perhaps if spent more time with Shrek he would feel more easy going around him, but for now he did not want to say anything that could make him angry. Ethan needed to know why Shrek was so adamant on going back to the city where Oogway was, it was just came out of nowhere and certainly made all of the pups a little worried. "What happened back there?" Ethan asked finally getting the strength within himself to speak.

Shrek, still not even facing Ethan for a second, did not answer his question right after it was asked. He also was reflecting on why he wanted to see Oogway so badly. He did indeed know who he was, but did not understand what caused him to collapse after hearing his name. It was almost as if saying it changed something within him, and not even just that. The world seemed to respond to it. It changed from there being a gleaming to sun to overbearing clouds. Whether this meant something good or bad could not be decided in his head.

Shrek let out a breath and answered the boys question, "If you mean me nearly passing out, I really do not know. Something about hearing that name again just switched something within me. Whether it flicked a switch on or off I do not know." It was not the answer that Ethan wanted, but he knew that he would not get much more from Shrek. He just nodded and went over to the pups who still had not stopped talking.

Chase was the first to notice Ethan approaching them, followed by the other two who took a moment to finish what they were saying. "Hey Ethan I have been wondering… How much longer until we get to wherever we are going?" Chase asked.

"Oh, well… Not anytime soon." Ethan answered remembering how long they had been driving the boat for prior to turning around.

Chase sighed and placed his head onto his paws. His mind trying to comprehend everything that was going on. Everyone was. Their entire view on the world had flipped within the span of a single morning. For the better, or for the worst, was the biggest question that circled around them. Only time would tell the answer, if they lived to find that out. Death felt closer than ever before for all of them. Even Shrek could feel the overbearing sense of dread that grew with every second that passed by. He could not figure out why. After all, he was heading towards someone that he knew to be one of, if not the most wise creature in all of existence, or so he thought.

Staring off into the infinite span of the ocean in front of him, a green light slowly began to appear over the horizon. It was subtle at first, but even the slightest glimpse of it confirmed that something wasn't right. The distance between it and the boat was quickly decreasing, along with its size increasing. In fact it was so large that it looked to span the entire ocean. It resembled some sort of energy field. Shrek turned around for a second at the others, who also noticed what was rapidly approaching them.

Ethan stood up and quickly got to the front of the boat, followed by the three pups who were quick to notice his hustle, "What is that?" he asked Shrek, who was trying to figure out that very question on his own. As the field came closer a strange noise filled everyone's ears. It sounded like a mix of an electricity field and… something else. Something otherworldly that was indescribable. Panic struck all of them as the realization that whatever was approaching was inevitably going to hit them. They all braced for impact as the boat was struck by the blast of energy. All that was heard was the sound of the boat's engine shutting off, and the ever fading sounds of the field dissipating behind them.

They all slowly opened their eyes as Chase asked, "What?" Pure silence surrounded them, there was nothing more that followed. Ethan had noticed the boat had shutdown the instant it was impacted, along with each of the pup-tags turning off.

He figured out what had happened rather quickly, "An E.M.P blast, that is what seemed to have just happened," he said seeing if his surroundings had changed. Besides the clouds becoming far more dense and dark, nothing much seemed out of the ordinary.

"That was unlike any E.M.P blast that I know of," Chase said, though he agreed that was the most likely conclusion.

"I do not see what other thing that could have been," Marshall added. Their chatter ceased as a portal slowly opened up at the back of the boat, leading into a deserted street of a city.

Ethan recognized where had seen the portal before instantly, "Oogway?" he asked not seeing the turtle anywhere.

Chase was the only one taken back by the sight, "Should I know what I am looking at?" Nobody answered as Shrek signaled for them all to stay still. He stepped in front of them and approached the entrance to the city cautiously. There was some sort of distrust that he held with the portal, almost as if he had experienced something in relation to it, and not a good experience.

"Shrek, Oogway made those same portals before, I am pretty sure that he…" Shrek cut him off by raising his hand into the air once more. Without saying a word, he stepped through the portal and onto the other side. Ethan and the pups all looked at each other, the boy shrugged as he decided to go through the portal. The three pups followed him and walked straight into the middle of a city devoid of any signs of life. There were cars laying around the barren streets, all of them shut off along with the streetlights being dead. Dark thunder clouds above them were the only things that moved.

The portal closed quickly after they had exited. Ethan recognized the city once he got a full view of it; the city which he had lived in for his entire life. "What happened here?" he said to himself looking through the window of an empty car on the middle of the street. The inside looked nothing like he had expected. A cup of coffee was still steaming in the cupholder, there were a few belongings lying around the backseats; nothing that would have been expected to be left behind if there was some sort of education. Something else had happened in the city, something far worse.

Shrek had walked into the middle of an intersection where a massive hole in the ground laid in the middle. Ethan caught sight of it and realised what street he was on. The same comic book store that magically transformed was returned to its former state on the sidewalk. Marshall and Skye figured out where they were moments after Ethan did. All three of them wasted no time running over to the store to see if Oogway was waiting for them. Chase followed closely behind them as he did not know where he was. Seeing a completely abandoned city that he had never seen before genuinely terrified him.

The crater created by the fragment appeared far larger than what anyone had remembered as they passed by it. Shrek was staring down into it trying to figure out what had caused it. There was no sign of Oogway being anywhere, but then again, he did live in some sort of alternate reality store that came out of nowhere. "Shrek!" Ethan shouted at the Ogre, "Can you come here for a second?" Shrek squinted down into the crater one more time before obliging.

The Mighty Ogre walked over to the front of the store where the others stood, "Do you know why we were brought here?"

Ethan let out a little sigh before responding, "I was hoping that you would have the answer to that."

"Why did you walk up to that building in front of you?" Shrek asked pointing towards the front of the store where the pups had walked up to. They mumbled to each other explaining what they had seen to Chase.

"Well this is where Oogway… lived?" Ethan said, not quite sure what exactly Oogway considered his place of residency.

"I doubt that Oogway would reside in such a place," Shrek said looking around the empty store filled with old comics.

"Actually it was not exactly the same place as right behind us," Ethan said turning around trying to figure out if there was any sort of way to transform the place like Oogway did. He figured that the only way was with the staff.

Shrek became curious upon hearing his response, "Exactly what do you mean by that?" he questioned.

Ethan did not even know how to respond. Putting what he had seen into words was a challenge in his mind. He tried to frame it as simply as he could, "It basically became an entirely different building than what you are currently looking at. I never actually got to see what was inside because apparently… well I do not actually know why." He remembered how only Marshall and Skye got in, "Maybe you need to be a dog," he joked. A smile came to his face after hearing himself say that, hoping that maybe someone who heard him would laugh. There was nothing, Shrek seemed to stoick to let out even a chuckle.

"Let us head inside than, perhaps there is more than meets the eye," Shrek said believing everything that he was told. With his experiences in life, nothing was impossible to him anymore.

They all were about to enter the building when a voice called from behind them, "There is no need to head inside." They all turned around and all but one of them saw the familiar face of an old turtle holding a wooden staff, who appeared sad and beaten

Shrek's eyes locked with Oogway's, who let brought a soft smile to his wrinkled face, "Ah, I was wondering when you would show up." Shrek kept his mouth completely shut as he inspected his old ally, as if to check if what he was seeing was real.

Shrek could not help but give a friendly little smile back when he knew that he was finally reunited with a long lost friend, "Oogway… it really is you after all of these years. What has happened during my time away?"

"Many many things, old friend. I have seen days go by where the world was in peace, and days where the world has been torn apart, divided among each and every soul that inhabited it."

"Sounds like you have been keeping an eye on everything."

"That is one way to look at things, I suppose. You seem to have obtained that sword after all of this time," Oogway said noticing the orange sword on Shrek's back.

"Only recently."

Ethan could not help but interject into the conversation, his interest had peaked after hearing each and every word between the two. "Wait… what exactly are you two talking about here?" he asked, glancing down at the three pups to see if they had caught onto anything that was said.

Oogway chuckled, "Young man, the history between me and Shrek here is of no importance to your journey. Let us just say, it is quite a complicated one."

Ethan was growing tired of having his mind clouded with questions about everything that was currently occurring, and getting no answers when he asked the only ones that seemed to understand everything that was going on. The members of the Paw Patrol that were with him were surprisingly quiet. He had expected them to be asking all of the questions, but they had been blindly following Shrek and Oogway as they had no one else to look up to. Though Ethan did not feel satisfied being left in the shadows, he decided it was best to just go along. After all, Oogway had proven he is capable of destroying Shaggy, or whatever that was.

The storm clouds above looked as if they were ready to burst at any second. An ominous wind was growing, it felt like something was approaching. Oogway's brief moment of joy caused by meeting Shrek had washed away as he remembered what must be done. He held out the staff in front of him to inspect it, "Even though I tried everything that I could, I failed to do the one thing that I promised," he remarked in a mundane tone. Everyone was intrigued now, including Shrek who did not fully understand what was being said.

The Mighty Ogre lost his smile hearing the saddened words of his friend, "What are you saying?" he asked.

Oogway looked down on the ground in defeat, "I now know that I am no longer capable of the very thing I set my life around, someone else must take the mantle," he stated gazing into the five that stood upon him. Everyone became instantly interested in finding out who he was speaking of. Oogway looked up at Ethan, "You, I need you to come with me." Ethan's eyes widened the second the words struck him. He opened his mouth trying to say something, not understand what he was supposed to. Oogway never did say that he was passing on the mantle to him, whatever that meant. What mantle was he talking about exactly? He never figured that Oogway held some deep responsibility seeing how he supposedly hid away for however long he did.

A portal opened behind where Oogway stood. It lead to a hill that overlooked a large valley, where it was strangely night time with a bright white moon in the sky. There were no storm clouds or anything, just a pure black sky that lead into the cosmos. Everyone was staring at Ethan, wondering the exact same thing that he was. Shrek gave him a somewhat envious, yet curious expression. Without knowing what was to come next Ethan hesitantly followed. He and Oogway walked through the portal, which quickly closed behind them separating them from the others. All of them waited in curiosity for something else to happen.

Oogway walked over to the edge of the cliff and gazed up into the moon. Ethan slowly walked up towards him as he began to speak, "One day, when all hope seems lost in the entirety of the universe, someone needs to be there to reimpose hope."

Ethan waited for a second before responding to what he had just heard, "Are you saying that someone is me?"

Oogway chuckled once more, "No. I can only choose you because there is no other option left."

"Wait, what about literally anyone else-"

"It is not just about you. I hope that one day you will come to understand, but time is running out right now," Oogway claimed opening up another portal behind him that lead back into the city. He walked towards the portal, blocking Ethan from leaving as he turned around to face him, "Here," he said, holding out his staff for Ethan, "Take it, I must return before he arrives." Ethan begrudging grabbed the staff and held it firmly in his hands. The wooden wonder felt unlike any other thing that he had held before. It felt like an energy was surging through him as Oogway let go allowing him to freely move it around.

He looked straight into Oogway's eyes trying to comprehend what was happening, "Are you being serious right now? Why me?" Oogway sighed as he turned around to leave the boy alone. Ethan tried to come through the portal with him, but he was not quick enough. The portal closed leaving him stranded in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but Oogway's magical cane. All that he could see from the cliffside was a large valley with a forest right in the middle of it, and some small wooden building at the very end of the forest.

Within the city where Ethan lived, Shrek and the pups were all still waiting around for Oogway's and Ethan's return. Very few words were spoken between them ever since the two had left, as none knew what kind of things to discuss. Their waiting ended when they saw the same portal reappear with Oogway walking out moments later, without Ethan. All of approached him, each of them first noticing the disappearance of his staff. He looked somewhat sad and uncertain. The first question on their minds was what Oogway had said, and what had happened during his time gone.

Shrek peered straight into Oogway's eyes, "Where did you go?" he asked. Thunder rumbled ominously above them as he spoke.

Oogway was hesitant to give an answer, but knew that silence would get him no further, "You know what had to be done. There was no other choice, I must return home, my time has come."

"Now is not the best of times," Shrek claimed, gesturing to the clouds above him.

"Well I can stay a little longer, until the storm clears out," Oogway said with a slight smile.

"On the subject of weather, I am not quite sure that these clouds are anything natural," Skye added as she anticipated what was to come.

"What do you mean?" Chase asked as he had never thought of the storm as anything more than an inconvenience.

Skye gulped slightly before she spoke up again, "Just look at the clouds." The other two pups looked up into the sky. She was indeed right, something was off about the clouds, rather than being normal storm clouds, they appeared to have some sort of redness in them. It was like blood was flowing through them, making them look somewhat alive.

Oogway approached them three pups, "You three need to get inside," he said in a hurry.

"Why?" Chase asked. He wanted to try and understand the situation so that he could try and figure out the best course of action. He was starting to understand how Ethan felt, not getting any sort of answer no matter how many times he asked.

"What is coming is far to much for you at the moment." Oogway said gesturing for them to get inside of the store. They all obliged without further question, only exchanging glances of uncertainty at each other. Once the three were inside Oogway and Shrek walked out onto the middle of the street. Shrek pulled the sword from his back and held it out in front of him, attempting to concentrate as best as he could so that he could use the sword to its fullest potential.

"Now all we have to do is wait."


	9. Battle of the Masters

Shrek clenched the Lorax Sword tightly in his sweaty palms. Despite the icy breeze that was howling in the air, the anticipation and pressure that was overwhelming him made him forget that it was nearly freezing. The air was unusually cold, both Shrek and Oogway knew that something was not right. The two stood in the middle straight waiting for the arrival of their worst enemy. Shrek did know what Oogway's plan was, especially considering that he did not have his staff ever since he disappeared through the portal. He knew that Oogway was an extremely powerful and wise being, but he knew that he was not invincible.

Standing in the street waiting felt like an eternity as the wind's shrieks grew louder. Shrek looked down at Oogway and asked, "Where is he?"

Oogway didn't even look at Shrek as he answered his question, "He will be here." Shrek let out an audible sigh as he faced the empty street once more. He turned over to the front of the store, where he saw three pups looking outside at him. He contemplated whether they would be safe inside such a shabby old store, but felt locked where he was standing and could not get them to back away from the windows.

Shrek faced Oogway one last time, "Are-" he was instantly cut off as something crashed down into the crater in front of him. A large dust cloud exploded out upon impact, knocking Shrek and Oogway back. They quickly got up and on the offensive. Something was rising out of the crater, a man in a green shirt, Shaggy. Compared to the other Shaggy's that were encountered, this one appeared to be far more threatening. He was floating in the air with a blue aura fully encapsulating his body. The ground below him was seemingly repairing itself, the hole became fully repaired after a matter of seconds.

Shaggy stared right into Oogway's soul, "About time that you come out of hiding," he said with malice oozing out of each word spoken. Oogway gave no response as he made no movements, waiting for the attacks to come to him. Shaggy proceeded to speak to Shrek, "And as for you, I see that you finally decided to get that sword of yours." Shrek glared right into Shaggy's eyes and he tightened his grip. "As for a weapon of my own," Shaggy began to say as he reached behind his back, "I think I found one to match your's." From behind him another sword that was hidden on his back appeared. It held a similar design to the Lorax sword, with several key differences. A small fragment sat in the middle of the blade, however there was no extra slots on the grip like the Lorax sword. Shrek and Oogway recognized the fragment, it was one that they had searched for and never found. The Elemental Fragment, that held within the power of the earth itself. Water, fire, air, earth, and many more abilities. It was radiating with an internal energy that was ready to burst at any second. Seeing it reduced the little bit of hope that Shrek held, this was not going to be an easy fight.

The pups within the store were witnessing everything that was happening, they slowly backed down from the windows as understood why they had been brought inside. A menacing grin slowly formed on Shaggy's stubbled face, "How about we get this started." The entire world sat still as everyone was on edge, waiting for the first strike. Shaggy finally swung the sword into the air, all of the clouds above formed a circle before a massive bolt of lightning came down. It struck right in between where Shrek and Oogway stood, sending them both flying into the sides of buildings. Both of them promptly stood up, now it was finally time for them to make their moves. Shrek swung the Lorax Sword up, a massive pillar of stone arose from the earth and smashed into Shaggy. His body becoming trapped on the ever rising tower before Shrek brought the sword down, causing the pillar to flip with Shaggy still on it, his body smashing into the street.

The impact was nothing to Shaggy though. He smashed through the mass of stone that momentarily trapped him with his own blade. With a single swipe a gust of wind swept Shrek and Oogway up, another swipe causing more lightning to crash into both of them. They both landed on the concrete, already feeling exhausted. Shaggy chuckled, "This all can stop right now, just hand over that fragment." Shrek glared at Shaggy once more before making his next attack. He knew that focus and a clear mind was the only way that he would be able to master the abilities of the Lorax Sword. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind of any thoughts that could potentially make him lose concentration on his one goal, to defeat Shaggy. As he reopened them he held his blade into the air, and rather than his attack coming from the ground, it materialized directly above where Shaggy floated. It instantly struck the menace with such force that it caused him to crash into the ground. Shrek did not waste anytime, he pointed the tip of the blade in front of him, another burst of stone appeared heading straight towards Shaggy. His body flew down the street on the moment of impact, smashing through a building that sat at the end of the street.

There was silence for a moment before Shaggy re-emerged from the ruins where he laid. He was not alone though, streams of water started to flood the street at an alarming rapid rate. The velocity of it caused Shrek and Oogway to brace themselves. The fragment within the Lorax Sword glowed and in front of both of them a stone wall appeared. The water smashed into it and dissipated after a few moments. Not a second after Shaggy smashed through the wall that guarded Shrek, attempting to grab the sword in his hands. Shrek dodged it and managed to swipe at Shaggy. Even though he managed to directly hit him, no signs of injuries occurred. Shaggy quickly made another attempt at grabbing the sword, instead grabbing Shrek's wrist. His other hand was blocked by Shrek's free one, they both held each other and were interlocked. Shaggy's strength was greater than Shrek's, and was slowly winning the struggle, only stopped by Oogway grabbing his arm and yanking him right off of Shrek. Oogway spun around with Shaggy still in his grasp and threw him through another building, shattering the wall and the innards of it.

Shrek regained control of the sword as Oogway braced himself for Shaggy's next move. Shaggy rose out of the ruins with an enraged look in his eyes. The shard within his sword glistened as the sun's rays reflected off it. He was floating in the air just outside of where he had just crashed into. However, rather than attempting to attack, he holstered the sword to his side. Shrek and Oogway found this move to be particularly odd, considering that the Shaggy they knew was always the one to keep the fight going.

Everyone was glaring at each other suspiciously before Shaggy finally broke the silence, "Look, I know that you know I am willing to go as far as possible to get what I want, so why keep fighting?"

Oogway, trying to keep the fighting and destruction to a minimum, decided to go along with the conversation, "You are trying to take something from us to further your own twisted plans, we are simply protecting it."

Shaggy lowered himself down onto the ground as he continued, "Maybe you are one of the wisest beings in this universe, but there is so much going on that you do not understand. There are things that are happening and that are going to happen, which you alone will not be able to defeat." Neither Shrek nor Oogway knew what to make of his words. They were too vague to make any meaning out of, and for all they knew it was just an attempt at confusing them. Shaggy was not done speaking though, "You might see me as some kind of hellbent creature with one goal, and one goal only, but there is so much more than that going on."

Shaggy's voice was loud enough to be heard by the three pups that were still watching from within the store. They were trying to understand what the meaning was of what they were hearing. All of them looked at each other with the same wide eyes and confusion, "Do any of you have any clue as to what is going on here?" Chase asked thinking that Skye and Marshall were given any sort of information that he may have missed. They shook their heads without speaking.

Outside Shaggy looked through the window of the store catching the pups in his gaze, "I see you three in there, watching from the shadows, thinking that you will go unnoticed." All of their hearts dropped as they listened, "Why do you trust these two?" Shaggy asked raising his hand up at Shrek and Oogway, "I am sure that they told you something about me that made you believe they were the good ones, but how do you know for sure?" None of them responded to his questioning; none of them knew how to respond. Their best guess was that Shaggy was just trying to build distrust between everyone, which seemed to make sense in their minds. Shaggy brought his attention back to Shrek and Oogway, who were both still ready to attack, "Actually, why do I care. All I want is that fragment right there."

Without a second of hesitation Shaggy charged at the Lorax Sword. Shrek jumped out of the way as Shaggy slammed into a wall behind him. Oogway attempted to swing at Shaggy's back but missed as Shaggy quickly charged at Shrek once more. He was no longer holding back whatsoever. Shrek ducked below Shaggy and swung the Lorax Sword into his chest, barely slicing a part of his shirt and failing to pierce his flesh. Shaggy stopped a few meters away, Shrek no longer hesitated to attack and ran up to him while he was recovering. Shrek raised the blade into the air and brought it down towards Shaggy, who with a quick reaction pulled the sword from his back and used it to catch Shrek's attack midair. The two blades were holding each other in place.

While Shrek was fending off Shaggy, Oogway used the opportunity to make an attack. He realised that Shaggy was not going to stop at anything, accept for one thing, his own demise. Oogway always wanted to believe that everything could be solved without fighting, but knew it not to be true. He jumped at Shaggy and brought his fists down onto his head, landing a powerful blow that caused Shaggy to take a few steps back. Everyone was now clashing with each other, the fight going nowhere. Shaggy would always block Shrek's swings and dodge Oogway's blows. There was no time to use either of the swords powers as no one was holding back. The fight was going nowhere still, only time would be able to stop the fight. Shrek and Oogway were growing more tired with every blow that they dealt.

Back inside the store, three pairs of eyes were still staring out. None of them knew who would come out on top in the fight. Shaggy was definitely stronger than both of them, but only as in individually. Oogway was very capable of dodging each and every attack that came at him, where as Shrek was more capable of dealing the power. Marshall turned towards the others, "There must be something that we can do to help," he suggested, worried that something might happen if Shaggy won.

Chase shook his head, "In what way could we help? I know that we help people for a living, but fighting some sort of space god does not seem like the best of ideas." Marshall sighed, he never wanted to face a situation where helping would be a risk to his own life, and the life of the rest of his family. He would take the situation head on if he had to, but the problem that was currently present was far above his, or any other Paw Patrol members capability.

Skye put her own thoughts into the conversation, "Helping does not mean we have to fight, maybe there is something else that we can do?"

"No, this is far to dangerous. I think that the best idea is to stay in here where it is safe. If we were wanted in here by the ones currently on our side, I think it is the safest of options." All three of them looked at each other and nodded. Never before did they think that they would be in a predicament with such proportions. While they waited, the battle continued to rage outside, where it actually seemed like Shrek and Oogway were managing to deal more blows. Oogway appeared to not actually be aiming for Shaggy directly, but rather the sword that he held. Specifically the fragment that resided within it. He would punch it and every time that he did so, it reacted a little more violently.

Eventually, the entire fragment appeared as if it was going to burst. It started shaking within the sword before it burst off of it. A massive energy wave exploded out in all directions. Buildings walls were smashed into, including the store where the pups were. The roof nearly collapsed in on itself as the glass shattered and the pups backed away just in time and covered their heads. If the city was not ruined before, it was now. Half of the buildings in a mile radius were completely destroyed, split into half. Piles of debris laid all over the streets, along with street lights fallen onto their sides. Chase slowly raised from the ground and inspected all of the damage that was done. The other two pups got up just after. The door was completely gone, and their small window of protection was to.

Outside, Shaggy, Shrek and Oogway were all recovering as well. Shrek had been thrown a few meters down the street, whereas Oogway managed to keep his footing during the explosion. Shaggy was nowhere in sight, the fragment as well, though the sword that held it was laying on the ground. Without the fragment within it, the sword became any other sword used in battles. It had no special powers, held no energy within it. It was just a regular sword with an odd design, and practically unusable in combat. Chase no longer felt any safety within the building and quickly ran outside to Shrek, Oogway also walking up to him. Skye and Marshall followed closely behind.

The German Shepherd reached The Ogre and promptly asked, "What just happened?"

Shrek raised his head off of the ground and turned towards the pup, "I have no idea."

Oogway reached the rest of them as they were trying to figure out what had just occurred, "Shaggy wielding that blade could have easily taken us all out if he had figured out how to properly use it," he stated.

Chase looked all around, trying to see where the fragment had ended up, "Well in that case, then where is it? Does he still have it, or did it end up somewhere in this ruin of a city?"

"Wherever the fragment is, we had better find before Shaggy comes back," Marshall recommended, "where is he anyway?"

Shrek stood up and picked up the Lorax Sword off of the ground, "Wherever is he, it doesn't matter as long as he is not attempting to harm us. It just gives us more time to find the fragment in all of this." Shrek turned towards all of the pups, "We need to find that fragment, right now," he said and started rummaging through some bricks. The three pups looked at each other and gave a little nod. They all went off in separate directions, making sure that they were keeping each other in eyesight and never wandering too far. Chase went directly to where he had seen the fragment fall out, whereas Skye and Marshall went to see if it had flown out further away.

Shrek was still moving brick after brick off of the ground and creating a pile of them so that he could figure out where he had already searched. Oogway came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Shrek, you know that I can not stay much longer." Shrek paused and kept his back towards him, realising just how little time he truly had.

The Ogre spun around and faced his old friend, "You can not leave just now. We need to find this fragment first, and you are the only way we are going to get anywhere!' he shouted, starting to lose his self control.

Oogway gave him a deep sigh and continued, "I know that everything seems like it is working against you, and me. But the only way that this entire situation is going to get resolved, is if we do not let Shaggy get his hands on those fragments."

Shrek shook his head in frustration, "I do not see what you are getting at here, I know that already."

"If we can not find the fragment underneath all of this rubble, then maybe it is better left hidden." Shrek stopped searching and thought about what Oogway had proposed. The city was too far gone to ever be inhabitable again. It would take years to clean up all of the ruins and locate the fragment. Then again, only time would tell if it was ever found.

The Ogre stood up and asked, "So we just take the chance and leave it here?"

Oogway nodded, "That is exactly what I am saying."

"Well what if-" Shrek's words were cut off by the sound of something crashing into the ground behind him. Both he and Oogway turned around to see Shaggy, back in the city and looking more enraged than ever. He had a blue aura around him and was facing down at the ground. All of the pups froze as he raised his chin into the air and looked straight at Oogway. His eyes were glowing the same colour as his aura, and even his body seemed to be shaking a little, almost as if it could not contain the power within.

Shaggy stared for a few moments before he spoke, "Where is the fragment?" Oogway gave no response which only made Shaggy more enraged. "I will give you one final chance to give me the answer," Shaggy stated.

Oogway stepped forward a little and finally spoke up, "I am not keeping silent because I do not want to give you the answer, I just do not know the answer myself."

"Well if that is the case," Shaggy began to say, "I guess that I will just have to go with option two." No one knew what he meant by option two, but it did seem like something beneficial for them. The pups had been slowly moving closer together throughout the entire conversation and finally managed to group up once more. Shrek and Oogway gave each other a concerned look, even they did not know what was going to happen. Shaggy was locked in place, he did not move a single muscle, even his face did not shift at any movement. A low rumbling started to occur. It grew in intensity with each passing second before it turned into a full on earthquake. The ground below started to crack and rise out from the earth. Everyone but Shaggy reacted to the shaking.

Chase ran up to Shrek and Oogway in a panic, "What is going on now?!" he shouted as he attempted to keep his footing. Before they could respond the ground below them burst into the air. All three of them were thrown up into the sky and landed back on the street. More and more pieces of the earth were rising from the ground; it would not be long before the entire city was floating in the sky. Skye and Marshall were separated from everyone else and started to run through the ruined city.

"This is insane!" Marshall shouted as he and Skye avoided being crushed by the chaos that was surrounding them. Windows were shattered and entire buildings were falling apart. The cracks in the ground were chasing them as they tried to find some sort of safety.

"This is the kind of time I could really use my jet pack!" She stated as she leaped over some debris. The street lights started to flicker on and off, but stopped after being broken into pieces. The mayhem was only getting worse as Shaggy's aura grew in extremity. He started to scream out in pain as the light around him grew to light to even be looked at. Shrek, Chase and Oogway were all attempting to keep themselves alive to. Oogway was bursting through stone as it came crashing down above them. An idea came to Shrek's mind. He held the Lorax Sword tightly in his hand and closed his eyes. He tried to concentrate on nothing more than his heartbeat, and made his mind clear of all thoughts. Suddenly, around him and the others grew a circular stone shield. It covered the air around them and enclosed them from the rest of the world.

Shrek opened his eyes and saw what he had done. Chase appeared to be confused while Oogway gave Shrek a smile. The only way to properly use the sword was to have a clear mind, and Shrek had managed to do so. With all his years of living through the pain of his past and the pain of what was to come in the future, he actually managed to be at peace, but only for a moment. His peaceful state of mind was absolutely shattered when the walls around him came crashing down and he was sent flying back. He crashed into the fragmented pavement and pieces of the city came crashing down around him.

The source of the explosion came straight from where Shaggy had stood before. His body was nowhere to be seen. The only remains of him where a few blue particles that dissipated into the air. What was left of the city, was practically nothing. It was definitely something, the city had disappeared. All of the remains were still there, but any normal person would not recognise it at the first glimpse. Nearly every single building that once stood had fallen to the ground. Some of them were still standing, but missing most of the components to be usable. Shaggy had channeled so much energy from within himself, that he could not handle what he was doing.

His plan to destroy everything and everyone did not go exactly how he had planned, but did enough. Shrek coughed as he barely managed to get off of the ground. He found Chase laying motionless a few feet from where he was. He ran up to the unconscious pup and checked for a pulse thankfully finding that he was still alright. Shrek picked up Chase from the ground as Oogway came up from behind, limping. "Oogway," Shrek muttered, "Where are the other two pups?" His question was answered rather quickly as Skye and Marshall came running up to him. They both looked at Chase's body with the same face.

Shrek placed the pup gently on the ground, Skye was the most concerned about his status, "What happened? Is he alright?" she asked in a panic.

Shrek nodded, "He is just unconscious, the blast must have knocked him out."

"We need to get back to Adventure Bay," Marshall stated, "This has gotten way out of control. Not to mention, there is a bunch of stuff there that we need."

"Shrek," Oogway uttered, "There is no more time for me to stay here." Shrek clenched his fists in frustration. Everything had fallen apart. Any of his determination had faded away after what had just happened, and now he was about to lose the one thing that he had hope in.

"I suppose that I can not stop the inevitable," Shrek said turning to Oogway, "If you really must go that badly, then I suppose there is no good in keeping you here any longer."

Oogway gave a grateful smile, "I understand that the universe seems to be working against us, but there is always a light in the dark. Head back to Adventure Bay like Marshall said, there is no point in trying to look for the fragment." Oogway pointed his finger into the air, "Head that direction and make no turns, you will find what you need there." As Oogway finished saying his final words, he slowly started to fade away before anyone could ask anything. Not one soul tried to say a word as he disappeared into thin air. Now Shrek, Skye, Marshall and an unconscious Chase were left all alone.

Marshall was gazing into where Oogway had last stood, "Where did he go to exactly?" he asked.

Shrek sighed, "I do not know, he would never tell me the answer." He picked up Chase off of the ground and put him onto his shoulder, "Let us get going then." All of them started to wander through the ruins of the city, relieved at the fact that they finally had a moment to rest, but also left with the constant thought that Shaggy was going to return.


	10. Welcome to the Valley of Uncertainty

"Portal," said a voice, "Portal!" it said again a little bit louder. The voice was coming from a young boy with glasses, Ethan Humphries. After Oogway passed on his staff to him without any sort of reasoning, he had been trying to open a portal back into the city. Needless to say, it had not been going so well. He had practically been abandoned on top of some random mountain in the middle of nowhere. The only place that he had even thought of going to was the large valley down below. With the large forest that eventually led up to a wooden house of some kind, it seemed like a good place to go.

Options were certainly limited. He could continue to spend his time attempting to create a portal and regroup with the others, but each time he failed his hopes began to dwindle. Now, Ethan knew of stranger danger, which is why he was worried about trying to reach the house. His concept of reality had completely shifted in the last few days. Everything that he had thought impossible became a possibility. Who is to say that the house does not hold some kind of demonic creature within it, or maybe the house is alive itself? There were far too many risks that he did not want to take, but he decided to take them anyway.

A small pathway led down into the valley. Considering how high up he was, it would take a while to walk down it. Ethan was used to walking long distances, it was basically his entire life up until this point. The staff that he held within his hands felt… odd. Not odd as in, you were barely able to get a grip on the thing. Odd as in, it felt like the staff itself was speaking to him. Not with words or anything, but rather through the mind. In a strange sort of way, it calmed him down. Maybe that was how Oogway managed to stay so calm and collected throughout everything.

It felt like the staff was trying to tell him something. The voice in his head was cloudy, but it felt like it was telling him to go into the forest down below. Hearing it only made him feel more confident about trying to reach the house. After several attempts at portal making failures, he came to the conclusion that he was going to start the descent into the valley. He started to make his way down the path with only the moonlight to guide him. That light was all that he needed as there was nothing blocking it from reaching the earth.

He walked for a few more minutes before trees started to emerge into view. The forest was still far away, but at least there was now something interesting to look at. The trees themselves were an interesting sight for sure. They all oddly appeared to be… similar. Not exactly the same, but each one had the same amount of branches. The leaves on them were nearly identical and the size was the only thing that really varied. Ethan found it curious but did not see anything to be concerned about.

The journey felt like it was taking hours, yet the moon was glued to the sky. There was no wind, no crickets, not a sound in the world except for his own footsteps. It started to creep him out. He never realised just how frightening silence can truly be. Typically when you go out into a forest, no matter the time, you are going to hear sounds. For the most part, the sounds are harmless. A simple branch snap can just be a dear taking a nightly stroll. Obviously, you should not think of every sound as anything. You never know what you might find in the outside world. Finding nothing, on the other hand, feels scarier then at least seeing some kind of evidence of there being more.

As the silence filled the air around him, he started to consider whether anything was real or not. His head jolted from left to right as he swore that he could see something in the corner of his eyes. Nothing, just trees. More and more trees as a matter of fact. He had finally reached the forest after what felt like a century. It was bushier than it had appeared from the top of the valley. The branches hung high off the ground and were bending from the amount of flora that piled on top of them. Still, all that he could hear, was silence. Now alarms started to go off in his head. He gripped the staff in his hands even tighter, hoping that Oogway gave it to him as protection.

Ethan's head started to spin, he kept turning left and right and going back the way he came, but he could not find his way. Everything looked the exact same to him. Every tree, every single branch that hung above him, nothing made any sense. He no longer felt the staff guiding him, he was all alone. As more panic built up within him, he started to run feeling as if something was chasing him. He passed by tree after tree and never made it anywhere. Eventually, he stopped out of breath. He needed a moment to regain his sense of reality.

Though, through the sounds of nothing and the darkness of the forest, he swore that he heard something snap. His body shut down and he stood up straight. The staff in his hands felt like it was going to break from how tight he was squeezing it. He slowly faced over his shoulder and saw nothing. The sound must have been something. A branch does not just snap on its own. Unless it fell off a tree, which did not seem to be unlikely. Yes, that must have been what had happened. The forest was a complete dead zone, nothing would be living within it.

That is what he would have thought if it was not for another snap happening. This time, it was much closer. He spun around and pointed the staff at the source of the noise. What he saw caused him to nearly faint. There was a humanoid figure standing right where the branch had snapped. Its body was bent and its head was staring right down onto the ground. There was a cloak wrapped around it, concealing what exactly it was. Ethan held the staff firmly in front of him. It gave him something to feel comfortable in. The figure made no movement; it only made Ethan feel more frightened.

Ethan was about to speak before another snap happened. To his complete and utter horror, it happened behind him. The figure was still standing in front of him. Once more he spun around and saw the exact same figure in the same position. A cult. That is the first thought that entered his mind. He was being hunted down by some deranged cult that needed him for some kind of sacrifice. With no other option left, he decided to approach the figure. He made sure that the staff was held as far out as he possibly could. He slowly wandered towards the cloaked being before reaching him.

Still, with Ethan standing directly in front of him, there were absolutely no signs of life coming from the figure. With one swift move, Ethan swung the staff through the air and into the figures head. The second that impact occurred the cloak fell to the ground, the figure completely missing from where it was. Ethan's eyes widened and he froze once more. He wanted to stay frozen in that spot for the rest of the time, but heard something rapidly approaching him from behind. He could hear the grass crunching as someone, or something became closer to him with every second that passed. Time to run.

Ethan bolted down through the forest. He was running faster than he ever had before. His mind was set on one single goal: Run until you physically and mentally can not run. That is exactly what he was going to do. The footsteps behind him did not cease at all. In fact, they were catching up to him, and fast. He had no time to even look behind him or around him. The trees were just blurry images to him. Paying attention to his surroundings held no importance to the current situation. The more that he ran, the less certain he became of whether he was still being followed. All sounds stopped processing in his brain.

If one thing was able to stop him from running for his life, it was falling down into a giant cave. He was not even looking down below him when he stopped running on solid ground. His body went tumbling down into a cave devoid of light. He rolled down several blocky rock formations before finally coming to a halt. An audible groan of pain came from him. He placed his hands on the cold rocky floor the help boost himself up. Miraculously, his glasses had stayed on through the whole thing. Though, on the downside, he could not see the staff anywhere. There was nothing but pure darkness.

Whoever had been chasing clearly was not interested enough to follow him down into the cave. Quite understandable considering that they would not have even been able to see their target. Ethan tried to find something that would hint at where he was standing. He was worried that any step he would take would only cause him to fall down into a deeper pit. There was something faintly glowing in the distance. He approached and found Oogway's staff laying a few meters from the impact site. There was not a single second between him finding it and then proceed to pick it up. That staff was the only thing he had that could potentially protect him. Now that he had the staff, all he needed to do what climb out from where he fell.

One single problem remained, the hole was nowhere to be found. Through the faint bit of light that the staff offered Ethan found no signs of their being any exit. There was nothing above or beside him. The strangest thing was that the place where he fell from had been replaced by a long dark tunnel. A huge question raised in his mind, where exactly was he? Judging by the eerie forest where every tree was largely the same, this cave was anything but normal. Maybe he was in some kind of purgatory? Anything felt like it was a possibility.

He proceeded to trot down the cave and hopefully find something that could help him. In the everlasting darkness, his mind began to play tricks on him. Every time that he looked into the darkness, he swore there was also something standing at the end of it. The longer he stared, the deeper he fell into the belief that he was not alone. Hallucinations were something that he had never experienced before. He knew that people see some strange things when their mind tries to fill in the void. He had done some research on things such as sleep paralysis, staring into a mirror for too long in a dimly lit room and many other things. Those things let him keep his sanity from failing.

The cave lasted for an eternity. There was not even something interesting to look at, all there was stone. The more that he started it, the more he came to realise that he was not in any normal cave. Both the walls and floors were perfectly smooth and block-like. It was like the cave had been smoothed out by people, not natural in any way shape or form. Despite the cold and damp atmosphere of the cave, sweat started to pour down from his forehead. His breathing grew heavy and his eyes started to blink rapidly. Every time he closed them he felt like he was being watched. Panic started to kick in as he came to believe that he was bound to walk through the cave until his death.

After a few more steps his walking shifted into a sprint. He jolted down the never-ending hollows; noises started to emanate from the walls. The noises had to be another figment of his imagination, right? They were nothing like he had ever heard before, at least in real life. From groans that sounded like they were from the undead to the sounds of bones dragging across rocks. It felt like something out of a horror movie. With his mind solely focused on the sounds around him, he barely noticed an object sitting in the middle of his path. It came out of nowhere had caused him to come to a grinding stop.

Directly in front of him was an empty mine cart that sat on an abandoned railway. Right next to it was a lever that connected directly to the mine tracks. Ethan was bewildered by what he saw. There was even more to the cave than he thought, and know he knew that it had been used by others. With no other choice, Ethan hopped into the cart, gently resting the staff within it next to him. He stared into the darkness and placed his hand on the switch and contemplated whether he should pull it or not. Everything else that had happened screamed that the entire world around him was not real, so who is to say that the mine cart was truly there?

For a split second, he almost didn't pull the lever. Everything within him was yelling at him to not do it, but there was something else saying otherwise. Oogway's staff seemed to be calling to him; telling him that pulling the switch was the next step on his journey. Surely Oogway's staff had way more knowledge of the universe than he did. When all of his ideas were overshadowed by the guidance of the staff, he pushed the lever down. The cave began to light up around him as the Redstone powered railway ignited. The mine cart took off flying down into the cave. Ethan held onto the sides of the cart tightly nearly being thrown out by the intense speeds. He had no idea where he was being taken to, but wherever it was, hopefully, it led him to somewhere better off than where he currently was.

Ethan was not the only one that had been forced into the valley. Above the surface there was someone else trying to figure out what was going on. Someone who had just seen an entire cave system collapse within itself. Someone who saw zombies, skeletons, spiders and other strange creatures roaming around the shafts. The leader of the PAW Patrol, Ryder. He knew that the mines held some form of darkness within it, and nearly lost his own life to that very thing. Never would he have thought that the things he saw actually existed. His entire view on life was being questioned at every second.

When Ryder first had formed the PAW Patrol, he never thought that it would go from simple neighbourhood rescues to a cosmic level type of threat. He had plenty of other ideas of where his life may have gone in the future, but they never came close to where he currently was now. Moments ago, he watched an entire cave system collapse in after being attacked by zombies, skeletons, spiders and a man with white glowing eyes that was capable of creating swords in thin air. Now that was something he never thought would happen even in his dreams. There are a lot of things in life that can not be explained and that certainly takes the cake.

After Steve had snuck the diamonds into Ryder's pocket before they got separated, Ryder stood by the entrance to the cave waiting to see if something was going to happen. He refused to accept that he was alone in a place that he had never been before. Not only that but after witnessing the horrors of the cave he could only imagine what was in store for him in the outside world. Everything appeared to be fairly normal, although there was an unnerving silence hanging around him. It was as if the world itself had died, and it managed to send a chill down his spine. He shook his head trying to regain focus on what he was told to do. Get back to the house, make a sword and grab the stone, then get back to Adventure Bay. Sounded easy enough to him.

The smoke from the house was visible in the near distance. The journey could not be that difficult for him to complete. He started to walk through the grass and make his way back up the hill. The more that he wandered around, the more he understood why everything was so quiet. There was literally no animals or anything. All there was around him was plants. For such a nice looking place, it was strange that it lacked what every average forest or valley had within it. Ryder made us way up to the house with practically no problem at all. It was the exact same as when he had left it. Still small and made out of the same blocky wooden planks that he had grown used to.

He made his way up to the front door and walked inside. All that was left to do was to craft the diamond sword that Steve had told him about. Only, there was one small problem, Ryder had no idea how he was supposed to make it. His first idea came when he saw a small workbench with nine slots on top of it. The only thing that he could think of doing was placing specific items in a certain order to create something new. After everything that he had seen it seemed pretty plausible for it to be true. Due to the fact that the diamond sword that Steve was carrying had a straight blade with rough edges, Ryder placed the two diamonds in the middle slot and the top slot of the crafting table. Nothing happened; he needed something else. A handle was the only thing that he could think of requiring.

He spun around to try and find any sort of wood that he could use. His eyes locked onto a chest that was sitting in the far corner. Ryder walked over it and lifted the hatch to find a bunch of unused items within. There were the same iron bars that he saw Steve using earlier and other materials that he could not recognise. One item caught his eye, a small wooden stick. That had to have been what he needed. Although, it appeared to be extremely small compared to the one that Steve used to hold his blade. Ryder thought back to when he saw Steve crafting the iron armour and how it basically formed out of thin air. At that point, he understood that the crafting table had some sort of magical properties.

He also realised something else, the chest was filled with that very same iron, a lot of iron. Upon seeing so, he dug out all the iron that he could find within the chest. His arms will be filled to the brim with a bunch of iron ingots. Surprisingly, they were all very light in weight. He carefully carried all of the ingots back over to the crafting table, placing them on a table that sat next to it. Ryder had always been gifted at creating things. He was able to make most of the machines that all of his pups and himself used. However, he had no idea what he was supposed to do with the items in front of him. He thought back to the moment that he saw Steve creating the chest plate, remembering the order in which he placed the ingots.

Carefully, Ryder placed them one-by-one into their respective slots. He took piece after piece until he had finally gotten it down to the final slot. Placing the last ingot into it caused all of the pieces to swirl up into the air just like they did for Steve and morphed into that very same chest plate. Ryder gazed into his newest creation before picking it up. Much like the ingots it was extremely light despite the material it was crafted from. There was a fatal flaw in it however, Ryder had no idea how was supposed to put it on. As a matter of fact, he had no idea how Steve managed to get it on. Trying to place it over his head was useless; the hole was too small for his forehead to fit through.

After trying a few more ways Ryder gave up. He held the chest plate out in front of him and pondered on what it really was. Considering what he had recently seen, there certainly had to be something that he could do to make the armour wearable. Ryder brought the chest plate to his chest and stared up into the ceiling. Suddenly, the armour piece warped out of his hands and appeared on his chest; the size and shape had changed to suit him. Ryder took a few steps back in shock. It felt like he was wearing nothing but his normal clothes; the armour was nearly weightless even on him. He was able to move around the exact same way as before, but now he had protection.

Ryder stood absolutely still for a few more moments as he questioned what had just happened. His wonder peaked once he realised that there was still a table with stacks of iron. Now that he knew the crafting table was capable of making items from thin air, Ryder needed to figure out what else it could create. He grabbed a bunch of pieces and started placing them over the crafting table. The way that he created the chest plate on the table was by placing the ingots in a shape that closely resembled the item he desired. Armour was his best option for the moment. He started to fill the slots in all sorts of different ways. Anything that resembled some sort of armour piece, leggings, helmet, boots and other articles of plating was his endgame.

The more ingots that he placed the more items that he created. He first managed to make a helmet by making an arch at the top of the table. That helmet was followed by leggings, then boots and a whole bunch of useless junk. Ryder failed to notice that he had used every last piece of iron until his hand was no longer picking any up. He shook his head bringing himself out of the zone and realising what he had just done. The tables were aligned with items crafted only from iron. The only raw materials that remained were the two diamonds and the stick needed to make the one item that he had come to the house for. Everything except for the armour pieces was unnecessary to him.

With all of the armour that he was able to create made, he decided to equip each of them. He started with the helmet and held it above his head. Much like the chest plate it warped onto his head and remained there. He shook his head to test just how well it was placed on there; it did not move whatsoever. Same went for the rest of the armor. Each piece materialized onto him from nowhere and stayed there undisturbed. He had no idea how he was actually supposed to take it off but for now that did not matter. With all of the armour placed onto his body, only one item remained. The sword was the last thing he needed before he was ready.

Steve had told Ryder to forget about him and return to Adventure Bay, but Ryder thought different. Steve was in trouble and Ryder knew that. He had the ability to help him out, and that was his job. No matter what the situation was Ryder would always make sure that he gave it his all. The armour gave him his confidence back. The confidence that he had lost when he went down into the mines crawled out from the pit they were trapped in and filled him. Ryder placed the stick at the bottom of the crafting table and placed the two diamonds above it. As he expected, the materials swirled into the air and formed a perfect replica of the sword that Steve had carried.

Ryder picked up the sword and admired it. No longer was he afraid of what dwelled within the cave. He swung the sword a few times out in front of him in an attempt to get used to the feel. Even though he had never swung a sword in his life, it felt great in his grasp. He had a solid grip on it and it swung with ease. Now was the time for action. Whatever was within that cave did not matter to him, he was going to save Steve no matter the cost. He walked over to the hatch that led down into the tunnel, still a little bit uncertain of what he was truly doing.


	11. Battle of Adventure Bay

**Guess what, I am not dead. It has been quite a while and honestly I kind of forgot what I was going for. So expect some things to sort of just go missing or something in this chapter. I looked back at what I previously wrote and realized just how much I have changed over the course of almost a year now. I actually started writing a real book, not a meme one, so you may notice that my writing in this chapter has changed slightly. I am actually surprised at how there are still people viewing my stories. Maybe I will update them too, but for now, enjoy what might be my best chapter. Also keep in mind that the first 2000 words of this were written before I came back finished it, so yeah. **

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"I think at this point we are just walking nowhere," a drowsy Marshall stated after having walked for what felt like hours.

Shrek let out a deep sigh, having heard enough complaints from both Marshall and Skye. Though, for the most part they walked in silence, with only the occasional complaint. Chase was still knocked unconscious after what had happened back at the city. Everyone had been tired out from the complete chaos that Shaggy had caused; no one was in the mood for another fight. Their aimless walking had taken them away from the city and into a rather normal forest. The occasional sounds of animals could be heard and nothing was out of place. Everyone had found it rather peaceful.

The day had turned to night ever since their fight. It was rather dark in the forest as the bushy trees blocked most of the moon's light. Without any sort of method of travel besides walking they had no idea how much longer it would take them to reach their destination, if there even was one.

Skye, being rather curious about Shrek and his past, decided to break the silence.

"So Shrek, where exactly do you come from?"

Shrek was taken aback by the question.

"I am not quite sure what you mean by that."

"Well you know, before you lived on that island, where were you before? Did you have a family, a home, anywhere to live?"

Shrek's mind cycled through the many memories and torment that he had lived through. His mind paused for a second leaving an awkward silence hanging in the air, before he finally spat out an answer.

"I would rather not discuss this right now. There are much greater problems at hand."

Skye sighed and looked down at her paws.

"Just trying to conversate."

Skye wished she had never opened her mouth, as now absolutely no talking was happening whatsoever. They walked for a few more minutes before Shrek himself started to get aggravated at how long they had been travelling. An opening in the forest started to become more clear as they moved forward. What it led too almost gave them hope that they had found whatever it was that Oogway was talking about. However, that hope was shattered the second they stepped out onto an empty beach. There was nothing but sand, no boats, no helicopters, no magic teleporters. Absolutely nothing that they saw had the potential to help them return to Adventure Bay.

Marshall had snapped.

"No… No this could not be what he had meant. We did not just walk all this way to find some empty beach with nothing to help us get back home!"

Skye approached Marshall carefully.

"Marshall, stay calm. Maybe there is something that we are missing here."

"Missing? The only thing that is missing is my sanity after having seen some kind of god fly around fighting a turtle and a giant green blob while destroying a city, and almost crushing us in the process!" Marshall shouted as he began to breath heavily.

Shrek, trying to keep his calm composure, tried not to give up on the spot. He trusted Oogway with his life and knew Oogway knew far more than he ever would. Shrek turned around to see Skye and Marshall still arguing with each other.

"Marshall please, I don't think we were ever meant to get involved in this! Obviously we are incapable of fighting someone like Shaggy. But right now we should just try and follow whatever it was that Oogway said, after all he said we would find what we need here, not what we want!" Skye yelled.

Marshall took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Alright, alright. Sorry I never usually act like that."

Skye smiled slightly.

"It's fine. How about we just look around a little, see if we can find anything."

Marshall nodded in agreement as the two began to snoop around. Shrek stood still contemplating what their next move should be. Perhaps Oogway merilly guided them in the direction of Adventure Bay, with no real way of getting back there. It was a possibility that Shrek refused to accept. He knew that there had to be something more. He gently laid Chase down on the sandy beach and grabbed the Lorax Sword from his back. Upon bringing it infront of him he noticed something, the fragment within it seemed to be glowing.

He waved the sword around in front of him causing the fragment to react more and less intensely depending on where he was pointing it. Spinning around caused it to almost stop glowing completely before it shined brighter than ever. Holding out the sword in front of him and seeing the fragments glow, he knew there had to be something going on. He was pointing straight down to the sand, something had to be there. Skye took notice of what Shrek was doing and approached him. She curiously looked at the fragment than down at the sand, seeing the light illuminating a small spot on the ground.

"Is that thing trying to show us something?" Skye asked.

"I believe so," Shrek answered.

Without another question Skye began to dig right where the light was. It did not take long before she found a small red button laying underneath the sand. Her eyes went wide as she stepped back cautiously, not knowing the function of the button.

Marshall approached them noticing their curiosity.

"Did you guys find something?"

Shrek nodded.

"I believe we have found what we were looking for." Without hesitation he bent down and pressed the button. The ground below them began to rumble as a giant hole began to consume the sand of the beach. "Remain calm and keep your footing,' Shrek said.

Out from the ground emerged some kind of spaceship looking vehicle. The pups stared at it with awe,

"How exactly did this thing get here?" Marshall asked.

Shrek shrugged.

"I have no idea, but now I can see why Oogway brought us here." Just then a previously unconscious Chase started to wake up. He stumbled to get on his feet and take in his surroundings. His eyes locked onto the majestic spaceship that sat in the middle of the beach.

Skye was the first to take notice of the awoken German Shepherd.

"Chase!" she yelled in excitement.

Chase groaned.

"What happened?" he said trying to keep himself on his feet, "Why is there a giant spaceship in front of me, am I dreaming?"

Skye shook her head.

"No, we are still in reality, I think. At this point it is kind of getting hard to tell," she said with an awkward chuckle.

Marshall came up alongside Skye.

"Chase! It is good to see you are conscious again," he said with a smile.

Chase nodded.

"It is good to see you guys are still kicking, after everything that has happened."

"I don't mean to break up this little reunion you guys are having, but we should get going as soon as possible back to this Adventure Bay place," Shrek suggested.

Skye nodded.

"He's right. We can have a better chat on this ship, depending on how fast this thing flies," she said excitedly. Being the aviator pup herself, she couldn't wait to test some kind of sci-fi ship.

Shrek walked up the side of the spacecraft, noticing a small button on the side of it. Upon pressing it a door opened up on the side of the ship and a small ramp came out from it. Shrek was the first to walk inside and look around, taking in everything that resided within the ship. There was a lot of belongings left over as if the occupants had abandoned the ship in a hurry. A bunch of computers and other pieces of technology that were displaying arbitrary information were attached to the walls, sitting on shelves, basically the entire interior was filled with technology.

Shrek analyzed the room carefully.

"This is certainly interesting," he stated.

The three pups just stared in awe, mesmerized by what they were seeing.

"I am going to be honest here," Marshall started to say, "Ryder has nothing on this."

Skye smiled, thinking about what kind of reaction Ryder would have if he was there.

"I can't imagine what he would do if he saw this."

Suddenly Chase's eyes had widened as if he had just come to a realization.

"How long has it been since we were… thrown off of Adventure Bay?" Chase asked.

"Like, hours or a few days? I can not really tell," Skye answered.

"We need to get back to Adventure Bay right now," Chase stated firmly. He turned to Shrek. "Please tell me you can fly this thing."

Shrek smiled.

"You should have seen me in my prime days, I flew some of the weirdest ships through the most chaotic places."

"Does that mean you can fly this thing?" Marshall asked.

Shrek paused for dramatic effect.

"Of course I can."

He ran up to the control panel of the ship, which was filled with what had to be hundreds of buttons that no one but Shrek seemed to understand. He started to press them and flip a few switches. Suddenly a loud noise was heard as the ship's engines ignited. It started to hover up into the air and turned around to face the sea. Within a second the ship blasted off into the horizon. The three pups gazed out of a window and watched as they rushed past the water.

Skye laughed.

"We need to hire whoever built this thing to build things for us! Imagine how amazing all of our gadgets would be."

"I feel like there would be some jealousy happening if that was the case," Marshall pointed out.

The three pups shared a good laugh as they neared Adventure Bay. Shrek could not help but smile, finally seeing something joyful after the longest time of darkness. Something in the ship beeps indicating to Shrek that they had arrived.

Shrek turned to the pups.

"We are here!" he said.

"Already?" all of the asked in astonishment.

"If you guys could see what other kinds of ships exist, you would be looking at this one like it was a piece of junk."

None of the pups fully understood what he meant by that, but they all decided not to question it. Shrek pushed a few more buttons which caused the ship to slow down significantly. Adventure Bay popped into sight, along with a large red bridge appearing directly in front of the ship. Shrek quickly tried to swerve the ship around it, but knew it would be of no use.

"Everyone brace for impact!" he shouted as the ship smashed right into one of the bridge's poles, breaking it on impact and causing the ship to tumble down onto the road, roll off of the ground and land right into the center of the beach.

The craft was a total wreck. Everyone took a second to catch their breath before they slowly stepped out of the ruin. Adventure Bay was the exact same as when they left it. Cap'n Turbots ship was still beached, there was a giant crater in the ground, and now there was a crashed ship along with a few pieces of debris from the bridge.

Chase looked around in shock.

"There's… no one here. This entire place has been abandoned. Wha… What happened?" he asked.

Marshall slowly looked around himself.

"Maybe… Shaggy got to them?"

"Why would he? What purpose would it serve?" Chase asked, growing infuriated.

Shrek tried to calm down the situation.

"I know all of you have a million questions right now, but we must focus on the task at hand. Oogway would not have sent us back here without reason."

"Can we just forget about all this Oogway and Shaggy and fragment stuff? We are in no way fit for fighting a god! How many times do I have to say this?"

"Listen to me. Oogway knew the universe better than anyone else-"

Chase's fury was growing with every word that came out of Shrek's mouth.

"How can you trust him? Why should we trust him? He was the one who abandoned us and gave his one and only weapon to some random guy who is not even here right now! How do you know Oogway didn't just leave because he didn't want to fight? Why should we get involved in something that clearly is not our problem?"

Skye approached Chase and tried to calm him down.

"Chase please calm down. Can we please just try and find Ryder? I know we do not have much of a reason to trust Oogway or Shrek, but what other options do we have?" she said, giving him a sincere look.

Before anything could be said or done they heard the sound of a boat coming from behind them. They all turned around to see a boat coming into the bay. Shrek placed himself in front of the pups.

"Be careful, Shaggy tends to trick people by arriving in innocuous ways," he stated. They all waited for the boat to reach land, which came to a halt once it hit the sand. "Wait here," said Shrek. He cautiously approached the boat, and using his massive size he peered inside of it. There, he saw three pups all sleeping peacefully, Rocky, Zuma and Rubble. "It's your friends!" Shrek called out.

The other three pups looked at each other and said, "What?"

They ran up to the ship and got into it where they saw three familiar faces, all beginning to awake from their slumber. Rocky stood up, eyes half closed, and looked straight Chase.

"Where are we?" he asked.

Certainly all of them were confused on what had happened. One moment they went to sleep not knowing where they were going, now they were back at their home like nothing had ever happened.

"We're back at Adventure Bay, all of us!" Skye shouted, excited to see all her friends back together.

Rocky's eyes lit up with hope as he heard her speak.

"Does that mean that Ryder is here as well?"

Skye's face shifted from happy to sad.

"No… we don't know where he is."

At that moment the others had all got up as well. Zuma scratched his ear, inspecting his surroundings before coming to his senses.

"I missed you dudes!" he yelled in joy. I

It should also be noted that Zuma magically grew out of his rhotacism, because trying to write lines with him is annoying as HECK. Anyways, they made their way out of the boat and back onto the beach, where they discussed their next moves.

"Maybe we can track Ryder's phone," Rocky suggested.

"That could work, but what if he doesn't have it?" Marshall asked.

"Well it is worth a shot either way," a confident Chase said, refusing to believe anything bad had happened to Ryder.

All of them made their way to the lookout while Shrek stayed at the bridge, monitoring every square inch of the place carefully. He knew Shaggy's ways. He knew how easily he could fool those who underestimate him. He rubbed his hand along the blade of the Lorax Sword, hoping that it would protect him in combat. The fragments within glew brightly, giving him a strange sense of hope. Within the lookout tower, the pups were back at the elevator, all of them ready to find their leader.

"It feels nice to be back here…" Rubble said, letting out a yawn.

Skye smiled at him and said, "Maybe you should get some sleep."

As Rubble was the youngest, Skye did not want Rubble to have to go through any more pain. He nodded in agreement. Once they got off the elevator, Rubble stayed on it. Heading back down and going to sleep in front of the television. There were bits of broken glass on the floor from where Ryder had been thrown out. Chase cautioned the others as he walked up to it, sniffing it for any sort of clues.

"Ryder?" he whispered to himself.

His gaze shifted towards the hole in the window and he realized what had happened. Shaggy must have been there, Ryder too. Considering that the size of the hole just about matched Ryder's body, Ryder must have been launched out of it.

"Are you alright Chase?" a concerned Skye asked.

Chase nodded, trying to hold back his true emotions. His mind reflected back on when Shrek had told him that Shaggy could not kill anyone. Which could only mean one thing, Ryder had to have been launched just like he had. That meant that he was alive, but surely thousands of miles away from Adventure Bay.

"Can you get that tracker working, Rocky?" he asked.

Rocky, who had already been in the process of setting up a tracker, answered him rather quickly.

"I should be able to in just a-"

He stopped, eyes becoming locked on the screen in front of him. The power was flicking on and off, the ground was slightly shaking below them.

"What is going on?" Zuma asked.

Chase looked out the window and noticed something odd, Shrek was missing from the bridge. It wasn't until they heard his booming voice from the bottom of the lookout.

"He is here."

Everyone froze in place as they heard it. All of them gave each other the same look.

"Shit," Chase said.

Quickly, they got back in the elevator and forgot about tracking Ryder down.

"Come on lower us faster!" Chase cried out as the elevator went down.

Once it finally reached the bottom, Chase bolted out of the tower and back into the cool air. Coming from the ocean was Shaggy, an aura radiating around him as he flew down the ocean and stopped once he reached the beach. Shrek was standing at the edge of the cliff, staring down at the menace below. Shaggy looked up at him and a smile overcame his face. The other pups came out of the lookout and walked over to Shrek. They gulped when they saw him.

"What do we do?" Skye asked Shrek.

Shrek clenched the Lorax Sword tightly, rage building up within him.

"You will stay here and be safe, I will go down and fight him."

Shrek started to make his way back to the bridge, but stopped when he heard Chase behind him,

"I am coming with you."

Shrek sighed, knowing just how determined Chase was to defend his home. He heard Skye try to change Chase's mind.

"Chase no, you aren't-"

"We made a vow to serve and protect Adventure Bay. I don't care how dangerous he is, we already lost all of our residents. We failed to protect the people, now all we can do is avenge them."

Chase turned around, ready to fight. Skye stood there as the others watched Chase walk towards Shrek. Shrek tried to explain how stupid it would be to fight, but Chase wouldn't let him.

"You know it would be-"

"No, I am going and that is final."

Shrek shook his head and began to march across the bridge, Chase right behind him. Shaggy watched with a devilish smile, knowing just how much he outpowered them. What no one expected was for Skye to finally burst.

"YOU AREN'T GOING CHASE!" she yelled. Chase froze dead in his tracks, turning around to see Skye standing there looking both furious and truly concerned for him. "If we are alive, if Ryder is somewhere out there, then why would everyone else just be dead?" she debated. "Shrek here is the only one who knows what this fight is like. Let's face it Chase, we may have agreed to serve and protect Adventure Bay, no matter what. But I don't think any of us had fought the creator of the universe in our minds."

Chase took a deep breath, accepting the reality that he was living in. He walked back towards his friends, head hanging down. Once he finally reached them, Skye nuzzled his cheek.

"You mean a lot to all of us, especially me."

There moment was broken when the demented voice of Shaggy called out to them.

"I have not got all day here, are we going to fight or not?"

Shrek swung his sword around a few times, getting ready for the battle. Everyone stood still as they watched him descend towards almost certain death. He breathed in deeply, clearing his mind of any and all thought. Inner peace was the only thing that he tried to think of. His eyes were closed, but he was still moving. Upon opening them he was standing on the beach, sword in hand, facing Shaggy who was only a few meters away.

"You think that you have defeated me before?" Shaggy said laughing. "The only thing you defeated was a lesser version than me. I am the strongest one. I am the perfect one. All of the others that you faced, were worthless compared to me."

Shrek ignored his words and pointed the blade towards him.

"How about you prove strength in combat, not with words."

The most disturbing smile came across Shaggy's face.

"If that is how you wish to die, then so be it."

Shaggy charged at the ogre, throwing a fist that barely missed him. Shrek swung at Shaggy, who jumped backwards before Shrek could even get close to slicing him. Shrek harnessed the fragments powers and summoned a giant boulder above him. He sent it plummeting down towards Shaggy, who didn't move a muscle. It cracked upon touching his skin, shattering into a million pieces. Before they could all fall to the ground Shaggy waved his arm into the air. The deadly little rocks started to spin around above him. He pointed his arm at Shrek, who created a barrier in front of himself as the rock pellets flew towards him at incredible speeds.

One managed to pierce through his skin, causing him to let out a grunt of pain. He took a deep breath as he ran back towards Shaggy, making another attempt at slicing through him. Shaggy ducked out of the way, but Shrek spun the sword around his body and managed to hit him. Shaggy felt where he had been wounded, bringing up the blood on his fingers to his face.

"I suppose you are a better fighter than I suspected. No matter."

Within the blink of an eye he was in front of Shrek. Shrek was so caught off guard that Shaggy managed to deliver a painful blow to his face, sending him flying back into the cliffside. Shrek was growing tired and weaker. He refused to give up, everything he had done in life led up to this very moment. Shaggy stomped his foot onto the ground causing a shockwave of sand to fly up in every direction. Shrek jumped over it, doing a flip in the air and landing a few feet away from Shaggy. He swung his blade at Shaggy's head, thinking that he had managed to deliver the final blow.

However, Shaggy pulled out a weapon of his own. A blade made from pure diamonds, the same one that Steve was trying to build. It caught the Lorax Sword mid-air. Shrek gasped as he realized what he was looking at.

"Where did you get that?" he asked.

Shaggy laughed and said, "Now why would I tell you that? You already know the answer... Don't you?"

Shaggy threw Shrek off of him, taking a jab directly towards Shrek's chest. Shrek narrowly avoided it and stuck the Lorax Sword into the sand. Vines began emerging from the ground, wrapping around Shaggy and squeezing as tightly as possible. Shaggy gasped for air, dropping the diamond sword onto the ground. Shrek was using all of his might to channel the energy within him into the blade. Shaggy began to scream in pain. His entire body started to glow a bright blue, before energy burst out from him. Shrek was sent flying back, crashing down just next to the water, the Lorax Sword landing in front of him.

The entire landscape was shrouded in a misty blue fog. Back up at the lookout tower, all of the pups looked at each other with their mouths wide open.

"Did he get him?" Marshall asked in excitement.

Well, their moment of happiness was short lived. Once the fog had cleared, they saw Shaggy standing in the middle of it. The fury that they saw within him was something they had never seen before. He looked up at them for a moment, before looking back at Shrek. The ogre grabbed the Lorax Sword, struggling to get back onto his feet. He was drained of all of his energy. His eyes locked on with Shaggy's, his determination at a maximum.

"You… will... Never win," he said.

Shaggy just smiled as he walked up the ogre. Shrek made an attempt to fight, but it was useless. Shaggy smacked the Lorax Sword out of his grip, landing just next to them. Shaggy grabbed Shrek by the neck and smashed him into the sand. He put one foot on his back, holding him down in place. His voice echoed throughout all of Adventure Bay, allowing for anyone who might be nearby to hear him.

"There is one thing I will never understand about you… Shrekku. That's right, I know who you really are. Why did you feel the urge to disguise yourself? Was it because you were afraid of your past, afraid of being found by your enemies? Well it was useless once you came out of hiding." All of the pups gasped when they heard him. "I never thought I could find someone more foolish than you. To this very day that still stands. You thought this worthless sword would help you? You thought that Oogway would guide you to victory?" Shaggy laughed and shook his head. "Just because Oogway guided you to defeat me, doesn't mean you would be the one to deliver the final blow."

Shaggy walked over to the Lorax Sword and picked it up, admiring it's worthlessness.

"I do recall you also said something along the lines of me being unable to kill anyone." He turned back towards Shrekku, who in the time where he wasn't being pinned down had gotten back up. "Maybe we should test that theory a little."

"No…" Skye cried out.

"This can't be happening!" Rocky shouted.

The other pups stood there, waiting for the inevitable.

Shrekku held out his fists in front of him.

"Prove you can fight you coward."

He was truly defeated. He knew that there was nothing he could do to fight anymore. It was the end of the line for him. He held back tears as Shaggy came closer, blade pointed directly to his stomach.

"Shrekku, I am sure one day we will meet in the spirit realm."

He laughed, knowing that what he said would never come true. He stopped when the tip of the sword was barely touching Shrekku's chest.

The ogre gave him one last looked and said, "You will never win, even when I am gone."

Shaggy swung the sword back and brought it forward. It went straight through the ogre's flesh, causing him to fall over onto his knees. Shrekku fell onto the ground, dead.

"NO!" the pups screamed from up above.

Shaggy grabbed Shrekku's body, stared into his lifeless eyes, and threw his body far into the ocean. His gaze became fixated on the five pups that stood on the cliff. He leaped up into the air and landed behind them. All of them turned around and began backing away, stopped only by their paws reaching the edge of the land.

"You really should think before you blindly follow someone," Shaggy told them. "I was like you once, I really was. I didn't know what my purpose was, I thought that I was worthless to the world. Then I realized one day, I had a purpose. You may see me as the bad guy here, but just remember that Shrekku did a lot of things that even I would never do." Shaggy gave them one last smile before flying off into the sky.

Never before had they felt so completely and utterly useless. Everything had fallen a part, they lost their city, they lost their leader. Now they had lost the one thing that had given them hope. All of them sat there, not sharing a look with anyone but the ground. They could barely close their eyes for a second as their minds kept them from doing so.

"What do… what do we do?" Zuma said, desperate to get any sort of response.

But it never came. They all had a moment of silence for the fallen ogrelord. They all had a moment of silence for their fallen home. Shaggy had killed someone, which meant that he very well could have killed Ryder and the townsfolk. Oogway was gone, Ethan had disappeared with him. They truly believed that the only survivors of Shaggy's wrath were themselves.


End file.
